Scars of Shadow
by Seathius Bloodtalon
Summary: When the hero's of the Dragon Realms, Spyro and Cynder, returned to Warfang, they had been expecting at least some sort of peace. It would seem that someone had drastically different plans...
1. Intro

Scars of Shadow: Introduction

The Valley of Avalar was quite a peaceful place.

Peace, the shadowy figure at the mouth of his cave home had decided, was a good thing.A very good thing in fact. He had also decided that in this newfound peace that the purple dragon, Spyro the figure thought his name was, and Cynder, his black dragon accomplice, had brought about that it might be time that, instead of simply watching from the sidelines as it were, to head back to The Dragon city of Warfang. Maybe _there_ he could finally live a normal life and maybe even put his abnormal powers to good use by volunteering for the City Guard.

At least, a normal a life that could be lived by an experimental dragon/human crossbreed gone wrong.

Life, it seemed to the young dragon, was not very forgiving, all things considered. Not that he looked _too_ abnormal in either of his forms, dragon nor human, but he still hoped very much that the Guardians didn't remember him. Being a product of an experiment to give Malefor's elemental control to humans didn't exactly give the troubled black dragon a very good reputation.

Well saying _black_ dragon in particular was not entirely fitting as he did have several shining silver streaks that stretched from the back of his skull to the base of his tail, making him stand out quite a bit in a crowd. _Or a line-up depending on how my entry to the city goes..._ He thought to himself, before promptly shaking such thought from his mind. After all now was a time for peace, tranquillity and rest for all dragons, which should by extension mean him.

After taking a few steps out into the morning sun, he realised that, while there was still a bit of a morning chill in the air, it was ideal flying conditions. And so, taking a deep breath of air, he stretched out his crimson silver wings and, with a push from his muscled hind legs began his 2 day journey to Warfang, where he would finally find peace. After all, peace was a good thing right?


	2. Chapter 1: Silent Morning

Chapter 2: Silent Morning

Spyro attempted to open his eyes in the first time since what felt forever, before forcibly having them snapped shut by the late afternoon straight in his eyes. His head was throbbing and every one of his limbs felt like lead weights had he attempted to stand, on shaky legs. What had happened to him? All he could remember was a blurry battle with Malefor and seeing the look of horror on his face, as he was dragged down to his demise by strange, translucent dragons. But after that all Spyro could was a bright white light, and a whisper. A whisper so faint that he could of imagined it. _Maybe I did. I was hearing other voices in my head at that point_ Spyro tried to convince himself, but that voice it sounded so familiar almost like...

_Wait a minute, WHERE is Cynder? _Spyro thought to himself, the unmistakable feeling of worry already growing in his gut. "Cynder?!" Spyro called out to the empty but beautiful field he had found himself in."Cynder?!" Spyro repeated, louder this time. But when the only response to his calling was silence, he began to feel sick with worry. Or maybe from exhaustion. He didn't know, but right now it wasn't at the top of priorities list to find out. The top of said list was solely occupied by finding Cynder.

Spyro forced himself to his feet , groaning with the exertion as he did so, and turned to face the massive mountain behind him.

'Well if that's the mountain surrounded by the Burned Lands' Spyro mused to himself 'Then that means Warfang would be this way' He finished turning his head to the west as he did so. Then, without so much as a second thought, Spyro spread his golden wings and took off in the direction of the forest to the east, determined to find Cynder before returning to Warfang.

After 2 hours of fruitless searching through the woods, Spyro was losing hope that he would find Cynder in the small amount of remaining light he had left of the day, and was also tiring from lack of rest and food considering the last time he had had either had been just before he had left Warfang.

Scolding himself for his weakness, Spyro lowered himself down to a nearby river and with a great flap of his not yet fully grown wings landed on the river bank. Spyro walked over to the river with a frown on his face, before taking a long needed drink from the stream.

'Why can't I find her...?' Spyro asked the setting sun, almost as if expecting an answer.'...What if... What if she didn't make it...?' He murmured his voice growing lower and wavering towards the end 'No! I refuse to believe that! I'm sure she's fine, I just haven't found here yet.'

Sighing as he did so, Spyro lay down next to the stream and closed his eyes, hoping to get a bit of rest before he continued his search for Cynder. However it was not to be as Spyro could not shake the feeling of incredible worry for his friend.

_Right, friends. Because that is all we'll ever be._ Spyro thought almost bitterly. Realising that rest would not come so easily, Spyro decided to take a walk around, and possibly even find something to eat. Spyro took one last look at the beautiful scene in front of him, with the crystal clear water reflecting fractured light from its surface, and then began walking back into the woods. And that was when he heard the scream...

Before Cynder had opened her eyes, she had to admit she was expecting to wake up dead. So when she woke up in the middle of a forest with the morning sun shining through the thick canopy, she was nothing short of baffled. Not only by the fact that she was still alive but also because she was, apart from a few sore muscles, in perfect condition. No bruises, no scrapes and no injuries.

_Well that is certainly helpful _Cynder thought while pushing herself to hers legs and taking a look around. She was surrounded on all sides by oak trees and she could here peaceful chirping coming from the birds in the branches above, but something was missing. Something or some_one _was missing...

_SPYRO! _Cynder panicked _Where is he? Is he ok? I have to find him_. Making sure that Spyro wasn't nearby before she did so, Cynder took to the skies above the oak leaf canopy. Unfortunately, visibility through the forest leaves was poor and Cynder often had to land to get a proper look around.

After around 3 hours Cynder had not found Spyro, and was becoming increasingly worried about his safety. _What if he's hurt somewhere? What if he is still stuck at the centre of the Earth? _Were thoughts that had become more and more frequent when the longer she failed to find Spyro. It was about one hour past noon and after around three and a half hours of searching, Cynder was parched.

_When was the last time I had a drink? _Cynder asked herself, after landing at a small clearing in the woods and began to take a more thorough look around. A few minutes later she found her at a river with clear water flowing from her left to her right.

_Well that's certainly a welcome sight. My throat was starting to hurt_. After a long drink from the crystal clear stream Cynder, taking a moment to recover her strength, prepared herself to take to the skies one again. It was then she noticed just how low the sun had really become in the sky and, sighing her disappointment, realised that she would soon need to find shelter for the night to come.

Around half an hour later Cynder found shelter, a small cave lodged into the side of a small hill. And while it didn't exactly look very welcoming, it would have to do until she found Spyro and flew _**with **_him back to Warfang. Sighing once again, Cynder entered the cave and lay her head down and was, from her position at the mouth of the cave, able to see a full moon peeking over the tree line as if afraid of being seen.

Cynder had been dozing off for nearly an hour now but was being kept awake by consistent rustles and buzzes that were most likely being caused by some kind of insect. Cynder had never liked insects. She had begun to doze off once again before being brought to attention by a sound that sounded like someone was trying to growl while being drowned...

_Grublins. _Cynder thought with disdain. What were grublins doing here? She had no time to ponder that thought before a large group of green and muddy brown creatures walked right past the mouth of the cave she was in...And then one saw her. _Oh no_. That was a split second where Cynder was frozen in her spot, and after that was over she let loose and ear piercing screech...


	3. Chapter 2: To Warfang

Chapter 3: To Warfang

Spyro was flying faster than he had ever flown before in his life. Faster than when he was trying to escape Boyzitbig. Faster than when he was trying to escape Convexity. Faster than when he was chasing the Destroyer. Faster than ever. And that was down to one thing...

_I heard Cynder's scream. _Spyro thought grimly, all the while his fears growing tying a knot in his stomach tighter and tighter. How long had he been flying for now? Why hadn't he found her yet? She was probably in trouble somewhere being attacked and he wasn't there to help her! His frustration lent him speed and soon he saw a small hill come into view along with flashes of red and black.

"CYNDER!" Spyro shouted "Cynder, is that you?!Are you there?!"

"Spyro!" Cynder gasped "I'm down here! I could use a hand..." Cynder started before having a spear sail past her, only a few centimetres from her eye "You know if it's not too much trouble!" She finished sarcastically

"Well I'd be more than happy to help." Spyro yelled back before turning his eyes to the grublins that were attacking his friend. The grublins barely had time to notice he was there before being burnt, frozen or simply crushed to death. With Cynder at his side the purple dragon was nigh unstoppable, and vise versa. For the most part.

While Spyro was fighting his half of the grublins, Cynder was taking a more up close and personal approach. This approach being walk up to any grublin she could see and tearing them to shreds with her razor sharp ivory claws. _After all, no need to waste my energy right? _Cynder thought with a smirk, before heading over to another group of the repulsive muddy green creatures.

In the aftermath of the battle there were only two figures left standing, one being black and the other purple, neither of which seemed injured in any way, shape or form.

"Well, it certainly took you long..." Cynder started but was cut off by the purple figure dashing for her before pulling her into a crushing embrace.

"Cynder, I'm so happy I found you! I thought that..." Spyro began but soon let go of Cynder and jumped back, blushing furiously as he did so. "Well, um w-what I meant to say... uh was i-it's good to uh see you again C-Cynder..."

Cynder, for her part, seemed too shocked to do anything other than stand there with her mouth slightly agape at what had just transpired. _Did Spyro really just hug me?_ Cynder was also blushing however her onyx scales did a remarkably good job of hiding this fact.

"I'm sorry..." Spyro muttered before casting his eyes to the ground."I was just really happy to see your..."Before he could finish he was tackled by a black blur and felt red wings wrap around him.

"Don't _**ever**_ do that to me again." Cynder choked out "I thought you might have died after the fight with Malefor. You have no idea how worried I was!" A few tears had sprung to her eyes but she managed to hold them back to a moderate degree.

Spyro shook of the shock of the sudden gesture and instead returned it. "I think I might have a fairly good idea of how you felt." Spyro replied, holding back a few tears himself "You say it as if you think I wasn't worried about you."

"Y-you...You were worried about me?" Cynder asked slightly taken aback by this.

"Of course I was worried about you; you're the closest friend I've ever had."

"Oh ok, I'm sorry I worried you like that Spyro..." Cynder said lowering her head as if she felt guilty.

"It's not your fault Cynder, we just got separated after the battle with The Dark Master. There was nothing that could have been done about it." Spyro reassured her, beginning to feel guilty himself as he saw her sad expression.

"Come on Cynder, cheer up. I hate to see you upset like that." Spyro coaxed in an attempt to lift her spirits.

"Fine, but I need to ask you something Spyro. It's important." Cynder replied trying to work up the courage to ask him what she wanted to.

"Sure Cynder what is it you want to ask me?" Spyro asked slightly confused.

_Come on Cynder; just ask him if he heard anything after the fight with Malefor. DO IT!_ _If you can fight Malefor you can ask Spyro a question!_

"Um I just needed to ask d-d... Do you know the way back to Warfang?" Cynder blurted out slightly louder than intended.

"Uh sure Cynder, it's just back over that way." Spyro said uncertainly, pointing a talon to the west.

"Oh ok then. So are we going to start flying there now?" Cynder questioned.

"I think we should probably wait until morning until travelling. With the amount of sunlight we have left it wouldn't be worth starting to travel now before we had to stop again."

"Well I was just about to take shelter in this cave here before those grublins showed up and attacked me. How about we stay here for the night and then set out for Warfang early tomorrow morning?"

"The sounds like a good idea."

And with that they gathered a few logs, stacked them together in a campfire fashion, lit them and retreated further back into the cave for the night.

* * *

As the first rays of sun began to seep into the cave, Spyro was stirred from his slumber by one of these few rays catching him directly in the face. Spyro, only really half aware of what was happening, grumbled at this and simply turned his head away slightly before deciding that is actually was time to get up.

He cast a glance over to where Cynder's sleeping form was rested and let out a small smile as he saw her still very much asleep in a darker part of the cave. Deciding that it may be better to let her rest for a small while longer before waking her, Spyro walked to the mouth of the cave and stretched his wings shaking the rest of the sleepiness he had woken up with away.

Just as he was about to take off for a small morning fly-around, he heard a female voice from behind him ask,

"And just where were you planning on going?"

"Uh nowhere. I was just stretching my wings out a little." Spyro replied turning around to face Cynder, who was lying on her stomach.

"Oh really? That's not what it looked like from over here." Cynder stated slowly getting to her paws.

"Well maybe you just misinterpreted was I was doing? Maybe?"

"Hmm no I think I was right. You were going to take off without so much as waking me first weren't you?" Cynder questioned fixing him with a stare.

"I thought you could use the rest. Although I am almost sorry I cared now though." Spyro replied with a shrug "How long were you watching me?"

"Since I woke up."

"And how long have you been awake?"

"Ever since I opened my eyes."

"Ok, now you're just being difficult."

"You seem to be saying that in a voice that says you expected something else."

Spyro simply sighed and shook his head in disbelief "Is this really how we are going to start today? Come on we have a lot of ground to cover Warfang is about 8 hours solid flight from here so if we leave now and take a break halfway there we should be there by about..." Spyro cast a glance over his shoulder at the rising Sun "...I don't know a few hours after noon"

"Well let's get going then. I'm missing everyone already, even Sparx actually!" Cynder replied already striding towards the cave entrance.

Spyro's face instantly became downcast as she said this.

"Well not _everyone _will be there..." He muttered

Cynder immediately felt guilty for that. "I-I'm sorry for bringing it up Spyro. Let's just get going."

"Yeah,let's."

* * *

The streaked black dragon had made good time to get to the city. He had caught a fast flowing air current that probably saved around 6 hours of flight time. This caused him to instead of arriving at Warfang during the night and waiting until morning to confront the gatemen, he arrived at early evening with the red sun still visible over the horizon.

The black dragon, however had decided to stick to his original plan and was going to wait out here until tomorrow to approach the city. _After all, being seen as some kind of intruder probably wouldn't help my entry to the city._

As he day-dreamed about what a peaceful life in the city could possibly be like, he heard a small rustle in the undergrowth behind him that caused him to snap his head round to the source of the noise, and by habit jumping into an aggressive stance. _Dang it Seathius! You can't let you can let yourself be distracted so easily!_

"Who's there." He snapped, his voice cold and intimidating.

There was a few seconds silence before a bronze dragoness emerged from the bushes to the left of where Seathius was staring. He turned to face her before she began to speak, a nonchalant expression on her face.

"I was just wondering what a dragon, and a adolescent at that, would be doing outside the city at night, simply staring at the gates for no obvious reason."

"I could ask you the same question." Seathius responded "Besides you look the same age as me, what does being an adolescent have to do with it?"

There was another few seconds of silence before the dragoness responded.

"...I'm not from the city." She said, her face nor her voice giving anything away.

" And might I ask what makes you think that I **am **from the city?"

The dragoness only hesitated for less than a second before replying.

"I suppose I don't know. I just assumed I guess."

"Assuming things is dangerous." Seathius said flatly. He could have sworn he saw her eyes widen by a millimetre when he said that.

"I guess it is. I take it your coming here out of hiding because the war is over then?"

"I suppose you could say that. I assume you're doing the same then?"

"Assuming things is dangerous you know." The dragoness deadpanned, before seeing she was going to get no reaction from the dragon opposite her she sighed.

"Yeah I was actually surviving on my own in this cave I had made home."

"Well that makes two of us then." Seathius admitted, before tensing himself slightly.

_WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! How do you know you can trust her?! Rule 27: Never share information! Or did you forget?! _But for once Seathius simply ignored the voice telling him to be cautious. Something just told him he could trust her. Almost like she was an old friend. Like he had seen her somewhere before.

"I was planning on approaching the city tomorrow morning." He continued. " Trying to approach the gates at night would look like sneaking in. What are you doing?"

"The same I guess. But I have a small camp about a minute's walk from here, do you want to stay there?"

"Sure, if you're offering." Seathius responded with a raised eyebrow.

"Well okay then." The dragoness said in a cheery tone. "But why the suspicion?"

He shrugged "I guess after being separated from society for a while, you kind of forget people can be nice."

"Well the camp is over this way." The dragoness stated before beginning to walk back to where Seathius had originally heard the noise.

After a few minutes of walking they reached the camp a small place with a campfire and two makeshift beds constructed with leaves

_Why are there two beds if she is the only one here? Was she expecting another dragon?_ Seathius forced these thoughts to the back of his head before walking over to one of them and lying down. The trip here had been mostly silent with only the sounds of the forest making any noise at all.

"Hey, I actually still don't know your name yet. What is it?"

"What's yours?" The dragoness replied laying down on the opposite bed, looking at Seathius.

"I asked first. It's only fair."

The dragoness responded with a raised eyebrow. "Very well. My name is Suraxis."

Suraxis. Where had he heard that name before?

"What about you? What's your name?"

Suddenly Seathius' stupor was broken with that question and he realised that he had been staring at the fire for some time now.

"My name is Seathius."

_HAVE YOU ACTUALLY GONE MAD? You __**cannot **__just go round telling people your name. RULE 27 DANG IT._

_I will be telling a lot of people my name once we reach Warfang this isn't exactly going to make a difference._

_That is not my point, at all._

" Seathius huh? That's not a name I've heard in... Before." The dragoness said, once again breaking Seathius out of his, quite literally, self induced trance.

"I doubt it's a very common name to be honest. But then again I could say the same thing about your name, could I not?" Seathius replied.

"I suppose you could. I have never met anyone else called Suraxis."

"Well anyway, if we are going to head for the city tomorrow then, we should probably get some rest don't you think?"

"Yeah you're right. Goodnight." Suraxis said, before shielding her head from the fire with one of her bronze wings.

"Goodnight." Seathius replied in his signature monotone voice, before doing the exact same as his new acquaintance.

_Where have I seen her before? Where did I hear the name Suraxis before?_ But, try as he might, absolutely nothing came to mind, before he drifted into a light sleep.


	4. Chapter 3: Introductions

Chapter 4: Introductions

Seathius was a very light sleeper. Suraxis had noted this when she had stood up to stretch her legs and wings Seathius was awake immediately, like he was trained to expect everyone was out to get him.

"Well you seem a bit edgy, don't you?" She had commented.

"It's not edgy it's being cautious, something you obviously are not."

"Ok, ok, don't get all worked up about it."

Seathius' response to this was to simply sit there and stare at her. This hadn't seemed to bother Suraxis at all though. She had then suggested that they should hunt for some breakfast, to which Seathius begrudgingly agreed muttering something inaudible about 'a waste of time'.

After only a few minutes they had both caught a rabbit each and ate in silence back at the camp, neither of them feeling the need to break the silence.

After another few minutes Seathius spoke, casting a glance in the direction of the still rising Sun as he did so.

"We should start walking to the city gates by now. By the time we get there they will probably be accepting refuges from the aftermath of the war so we wouldn't look out of place."

"Sounds like a plan."

"That's because it **is** a plan."

Suraxis simply rolled her eyes at this as they began walking to the magnificent golden city gates.

When they arrived at the gates a few minutes later Seathius was the first one to break the silence.

"What use is a golden gate in a war? They wonder why their gate was destroyed and then they make it out of gold."

"How can you tell it's solid gold?"

"Using the earth element you can tell minerals apart from each other. Gold has a very light feeling."

"Hm, aren't black and silver scales a little strange for an earth dragon?"

"As are bronze scales for a dragoness with the poison element. Besides who said I was an earth dragon?"

Suraxis instantly froze mid step.

"How did you know I had the poison element? Tell me!"

"I can sense the difference between elemental energy in dragons."

_Although poison isn't the only thing I sense in you... _He mentally added to himself.

Suraxis seemed to relax slightly at this before continuing walking towards the city gates, with Seathius a few feet behind. Soon they heard the voice of a dragon guard call down to them.

"Stay where you are! Who are you? State your name and purpose in Warfang!"

"I am Seathius, and this is Suraxis." Seathius called back up "We are refugees of the war and came here to take shelter in Warfang!"

"All new refugees must be inspected by the Guardians before entering the city! Please wait here for them to arrive!" The guard yelled down to them, before marching off.

Seathius sat down and began thinking about exactly who the Guardians were. He had seen a file on each of them.

_Hm let's see, the first would be Ignitus Guardian of fire. Aged 94, spent 57 years in Guardianship, 9 years in training prior to that. He has a calm attitude to most problems and is probably the closest to Terrador out of all the Guardians, or anyone for that matter. Red scales, a yellow underbelly and orange wing membrane_

_Next would be Volteer Guardian of Electricity. Aged 87, spent 49 years in Guardianship, 11 years training prior to that. Volteer has the fastest tongue of any known creature out there and often rushes headfirst into problems without properly thinking about the consequences (Stupid). He is the most inexperienced of all the Guardians. Bright yellow scales and wing membrane decorated with patterns of electricity and a dark purple underbelly _

_The third would be Cyril Guardian of Ice. Aged 92, spent 53 years in Guardianship, 8 __**official**__ years of training and 4 years of private training prior to that. Cyril comes from a royal background and can be uptight and irritable at times, letting his pride get in the way of his common sense and training. Light blue scales, a light lilac underbelly and wing membrane._

_And then there is Terrador. Aged ?, spent 73 years in Guardianship and 17 years in training before that but apart from that very little is known about him. Ignitus and him seem to be better friends than anyone else but Terrador is still very closed off. He has years of experience in being a war General and is the most level headed of all the Guardians, only rarely letting his emotions get the better of him. Dark green scales, a brown underbelly and clay coloured wing membrane._

As Seathius went through the details of the Guardians files in his head, Suraxis sat ten feet away wondering how Seathius could possibly know what element she had. Most people took a guess at fire, and no-one had ever been able to get her element right.

_Perhaps he really can just sense elemental energy and I'm overreacting. It could have just been a guess right? _

_Maybe he actually knows who I am. No he can't do, nearly everyone who knew about that is dead killed by Malefor and his servants._

Suraxis shook her head to stop unwelcome memories of what had happened then from coming to the surface, but to no avail. She could still remember that first day like yesterday...

* * *

_Five figures where running around in a small field, just outside their village, trying desperately to catch one another. Eventually they slowed to a stop, panting their exhaustion._

"_No...Fair...There is only...Two of us... and three... of you..." Suraxis recognized the female who had spoken to be her, a long time ago._

"_Hey...you were... the ones... who suggested...it should...be boys... against girls..." One of the 3 boys wheezed out._

"_Yeah, so what?" The younger Suraxis spoke again._

"_I think what he was trying to say," One of the boys that had regained his breath spoke." Was that how was it our fault when you chose how we play, ******?"_

There is was, again. No matter how many times Suraxis relived this memory; she could never remember what her name used to be.

"_It just is." The girl next to Suraxis complained._

"_Whatever."_

_They all lay in a circle resting before they heard a voice coming from the direction of the village. A figure was walking towards the group but Suraxis could never see what he looked like. He was always just a blur. As the figure drew nearer he spoke._

"_****** dear, we need you back at the village. Could you come with me please?"_

_NO, don't go with him_ Suraxis screamed in her head.

"_Ok sir. Let's go!" A young Suraxis said with an innocent smile on her face._

_The figure nodded and started to walk back to the village with Suraxis in tow._

_After a few minutes they reached the village and the figure walked into an alleyway with Suraxis still following him._

"_Excuse me sir, where are we going?" Suraxis squeaked _

_The figure offered no response and instead just carried on walking._

"_Sir?"_

_As quick as lightning the figure whirled around and hit Suraxis in the arm with something sharp. She felt pain, and then a tingle in her arm before speaking._

"_OW! Sir why did...you..." _

_She didn't even get to finish her sentence before she crumpled to the floor, unconscious. The figure that loomed over her grinned and then picked up her unconscious form before taking it through a hidden door at the end of the dark alley._

* * *

Suraxis felt awful as she lifted her head of the floor, a headache already spreading throughout her head._ Why do I always fall asleep when I get these flashbacks? _She thought but had no time to dwell on it before the colossal, golden gates of Warfang opened to reveal nine dragons. The first three she recognized as Terrador, Volteer and Cyril, while the others six she assumed to be anonymous guards.

_Remember assuming things is dangerous, Suraxis. _A voice in her head repeated, no matter how hard she tried to ignore it. Next to her Seathius bowed his head in respect of the Guardians, and she felt she should do the same.

"Raise your heads. My name is Terrador, I am a guardian." Terrador's said in his commanding yet soft voice. "My guardsman tells me you have come to Warfang seeking shelter after the Great War. Is this correct?"

"Yes Master Terrador." Both Seathius and Suraxis replied.

"Very well, you shall be permitted entry to our city. May I ask your name and age?"

"My name is Seathius; I am 17 years of age Master Terrador." Seathius said after raising his head.

"I am Suraxis; I am 16 Master Terrador." Suraxis told him.

_I cannot place it_ Terrador spoke to the other Guardians through a telepathic link. _They say they are 17 and 16, and while they certainly look it, there is something about them that just makes them seem so much older. Especially that dragon Seathius._

_Do you think perhaps, Terrador, that these qualities that you are sensing in that young black dragon are experience, training and discipline something not often seen in a youth these days?_

_Perhaps you are right Volteer but that does not mean you have to speak faster than our minds can follow. What of the dragoness? She seems as if she is expecting to be attacked at any moment, if not by one of us, from the stance she is in._

_Well Cyril, disregarding your earlier comment about my speech patterns, I believe that she may have a form of paranoia, making her believe that she is being overshadowed by someone who has a power over her._

_Well we can discuss these things later. For now I say we let them in and share with them a schedule for the Dragonic Academy._

_Very well Terrador._ Came the reply from both Volteer and Cyril.

"Well Seathius and Suraxis, welcome to Warfang. Today will be a long day."

* * *

Spyro and Cynder had been flying in silence for some time now, and while the silence wasn't awkward, is certainly was not welcome. They wanted to be talking to each other, but neither could think of a thing to talk _about._ _**(A bit like writer's block but with speech huh?)**_

"So," Cynder started in an attempt to dispel the silence that had encompassed them. "How do you think everyone back at Warfang is?"

"Well I would hope that the Guardians have been keeping order in the city and just trying to attempt to return everything to its normal state. You know rebuilding and stuff like that."

"I miss them all."

"What, even Sparx?"

"Even Sparx."

"Wow...There is something I never thought I would hear you say that."

"Yeah I never thought I would say that either. Anyway how long do you think until we get back to Warfang?"

"Well...I may have misjudged the distance so right now I would say we should be there in about... 20 minutes?"

"Wow, you really messed up on how far away it was didn't you? You said it would take 8 hours it actually took 4."

"Oh, ok if you are so high and mighty **you **trying predict how long it will take us to get somewhere next time, how about that?"

"You're on, purple boy!"

They were so engrossed in their conversation they didn't see the city of Warfang rise up out of the horizon...

While it had been quite a long day so far for all of the Guardians, Terrador especially had the worst of it. Between personally overseeing the reconstruction of all of the damaged buildings in the city, organising the entire city's Dragon Guard Force and constant political meetings between Warfang and other, much smaller, dragon settlements Terrador was completely exhausted.

So when he saw two young dragons flying towards the city's Eastern Wall he had seriously begun to worry that he was seeing things. However when these two figures began to draw closer Terrador was just about able to make out the colours and species of these figures. One was a purple dragon and the other a black dragoness. Terrador only knew one of either of these.

Spreading his massive wings, Terrador leapt into the skies towards these two dragons he had seen to see if his suspicions were true.

"Spyro, Cynder!" He called out. "Is that you?"

"Well how many other purple and black dragons do you know, Terrador?" Cynder's elegant voice came back.

"Yeah who else is it going to be?" Spyro chimed in, a grin plastered on his face.

"Well I had to make sure. Wouldn't want any undesirables in the city now would we?" Terrador responded in his gruff voice.

"I guess not." Spyro admitted, that grin still on his face

"I cannot help but notice that Ignitus is no longer with you. Might I ask where he is?" Terrador asked completely clueless of Ignitus' death. The grin fell from Spyro's face immediately, replaced by a sombre look of mourning

"I don't want to talk about that here gather all the Guardians for a meeting first, then we can share the story of what happened." Spyro told Terrador.

"Very well, Spyro. I shall gather the Guardians, and when I have shall meet you in the room we met in after you defeated the Golem of the Deep." Terrador explained to them, now slightly nervous about Spyro's evasion of the question.

"Ok then Terrador, see you soon." Cynder replied in a flat tone, her face showing her sadness.

The three dragons then parted, the two younger ones continuing the same way they had been going before and the elder dragon veering to the south slightly to gather the rest of the Guardians.

Terrador certainly had been right about what he had said that morning. Today was going to be a long day for everyone, not just those young dragons.

* * *

Over the last half an hour, Seathius had been reminded why, out of all of the species in the Dragon Realms, he hated moles the most. After being granted entrance to the city along with Suraxis, Terrador had ordered this mole that he was currently following to show them to and around the Dragonic Academy, the place where most dragons live until about the age of 24 the point when their education was complete.

The reason he hated moles was that they were slow, irritable and could never give anyone a straight answer for anything. But he hated this mole in particular because of its accent. It made the mole sound like he was drunk constantly. And it was annoying as heck.

"And here we have the dragoness' quarters. This is where you shall be staying Miss Suraxis." The mole explained, although his accent made it sound more like. "And her we 'ave the dragooess' quaters."

As much as Seathius hated the mole though he never showed any emotion. To shown any kind of emotion would be a weakness and weak is something that Seathius nor his previous master would stand for.

_Emotions are a weakness, Seathius, and you must learn to, at any time, completely disregard them._ His master's voice echoed in his head.

And while Seathius doubted he would ever need to go there, he still memorized where the female quarters were. Rule 23: All information is useful information.

Seathius had also noted that Suraxis had now left him and the drunken accent mole alone, heading to where she had been told her new quarters would be. He had noticed a significant change in her behaviour after arriving at Warfang. She no longer seemed cheerful and optimistic. She just seemed shut off and suspicious of everyone around her, with the exception of himself. This confused even him.

Ahead of him he could hear the mole babbling about 'The Great Dragonic Academy' and 'A true feat of mole engineering. He did his best to simply drown out the annoying noise until they reached the male dragon quarters.

"And here, Master Seathius, are your new quarters. You shall be staying here while you attend the Dragonic Academy." The annoying mole added during his monologue.

Oh and there was another thing. The Academy. Seathius could only see it as a waste of time for him. Seathius had most likely learnt nearly everything the teachers there could teach him. But rules were rules.

Seathius didn't utter a word as he left the talking mole on his own, instead slipping silently through the door that led to his room. As soon as he entered he had memorized where everything was. All information is useful.

Seathius stalked over next to his new bed, his paws not making even the slightest sound as he did so, and laid his head down on his paws before raising an earth dome around his body, his silver striped scales turning a greenish hue.

A few seconds later light erupted from all the cracks in the earth dome and continued to do so for the next five minutes. Eventually the light faded and the earth dome fell apart, crumbling to the floor, and inside a two legged figure, covered in a leather type of armour, rose from one knee to his full height and then swayed slightly.

_Dang it, why does that always take so much energy out of me?_ Seathius thought to himself before flexing and stretching his new limbs, making sure everything was still in good condition. Once this was done, Seathius reached to his side where he found the comforting leather wrapped, wooden handles of his dark crystal swords. He never went anywhere without them. Lower down towards the base of his back were 2 more handles fashioned in the same way, though the blades they were attached to were significantly shorter.

Seathius reached behind him and drew out these two daggers, accompanied by a scraping sound. He then flipped both of the expertly crafted blades over to take a look at the handles. The one on the right was inscribed with the letters 'Daanik' which meant 'doomed' in ancient dragonic while the other, the one in his left hand, had the letters 'Faas' which, translated from ancient dragonic to the common tongue, meant 'Fear'.

After checking everything else was where is should be and doing a few more exercises, Seathius covered himself in earth, transformed back into his dragon form and lay down for some rest. As he lay there, a phrase that had been drilled into his head his for as long as he could remember, pounded against his skull once again.

_Dinok wah faal sahlo!_

_Dinok wah faal sahlo!_

_Dinok wah faal sahlo!_

_Death to the weak!_


	5. Chapter 4:First Morning

Scars of Shadow Ch 5: First _Real_ day.

When Terrador arrived at the Tower of the Ancients, with Cyril behind him, he found Volteer, Spyro and Cynder already standing around the new Pool of Visions, built to replace the one lost when Malefor destroyed the old one. As soon as he landed, Terrador could feel that the explanation to come was not to be a good one and prepared himself for the worst. He was not to be disappointed.

"So Spyro, Cynder." Terrador began." Please, do tell us what happened after you two and Ignitus left us to head for the Ring of Fire."

"When we reached the Ring of Fire it was still too large to fly over without taking hours. Hours which we didn't have." Spyro paused for effect. "Ignitus then told us to stay close to him while he fought of the flames so we could pass through the Ring unharmed. When we reached around the halfway point, Ignitus started to run out of energy and..." Spyro stopped speaking. Everyone around him could tell that he was unable to continue.

"Ignitus then sacrificed himself to send us through the Ring of Fire and we...We haven't seen him since." Cynder finished for Spyro, her own voice breaking at the end.

Throughout the entire story the Guardians faces had become more and more grim and saddened by the revelation that they would never see their friend or fellow Guardian again. Terrador seemed most affected by this news but even he didn't shed a tear. Not that anyone saw.

Volteer opened his mouth as if to form words but promptly closed it again. There was nothing that could be said then. After a few minutes silence, Terrador was the first to speak.

"We shall need to prepare a memorial for our fellow Guardians sacrifice."

"Indeed Terrador. I believe that this memorial should be held on the day we mourn the others lost in the Great War." Volteer suggested, even his legendary quick tongue slowed in mourning.

"I agree. Ignitus shall be given a hero's memorial, along with everyone else who fought for our safety." Cyril added.

"Very well. Spyro, Cynder we will be holding the memorial in one weeks time at exactly noon. I hope to see you there."

"We will be Terrador. Thank you" Spyro replied. For another few minutes after this there was a respectful silence that was once again broken by Terrador.

"Well Spyro, both you and Cynder have to decide what you will do now. You may stay in a house that has already been prepared for your return, you may leave Warfang and settle down elsewhere or you may join the newly opened Dragonic Academy, and live here on site." Terrador informed them.

"Wait, when you said Dragonic Academy, d-do you mean with other dragons our age?" Spyro seemed to perk up at this news.

"Indeed young dragon. There have been many groups of roaming dragons who have come to Warfang for shelter. Around 800 dragons have made Warfang their home 200 of whom are dragons aged fifteen to twenty. So yes around your age." Terrador explained.

"That's sounds like a great idea." Spyro replied cheerfully." What do you think Cynder?"

"Huh? Oh yeah, that sounds great..." Cynder mumbled

"What's wrong Cynder? Don't you want to meet other dragons your age?" Spyro asked in a concerned voice.

"Well...It's just that how many of these dragons would have been forced into hiding by _me_? How many had their lives ruined by _me_? How many of their families would have been killed by _me_?" Cynder choked out tears forming at the edge of her eyes.

"Cynder, I've said it before and I will say it again, that wasn't your fault. Malefor alone is to blame, not you. There was nothing you could have done." Spyro replied firmly giving her a hug as he did so.

"That doesn't stop me feeling guilty about it or bring those dragons' families back though does it?" Cynder stated, with her head hung low.

"Cynder, look at me. That wasn't your fault and if anyone says otherwise I will tell them the same thing." Spyro assured her.

"Thanks Spyro. You really are a great friend to me." Cynder replied smiling.

"That's what friends are for right? So what do you say, do you want to go to the Academy?"

"Sure!"

"Very well then young dragon's, I shall have a mole show you to your new living quarters. Also there is a speech being held later today, to commemorate both of you and your defeat of Malefor. We Guardians would deeply appreciate it if you would both attended."

"Okay then Terrador. Anything else?" Spyro asked.

"Well I should tell you where the Dragonic Academy is. Walk with me." Terrador said as he strode over to the balcony. Cyril and Volteer did not mind this. They were too busy arguing about which one of them was more arrogant. He pointed a sharp claw at an extravagant building one street down from the colossal tower they were currently in."That is the Academy. Tomorrow morning head to the entrance hall there and you will be told what to do."

"Ok thank you Terrador. Now where should we go?" Cynder spoke up this time. However in her distraction, she had not noticed that mole that had entered the room behind her.

"With him." Terrador stated plainly, nodding slightly behind her.

"Wait with wh- Oh I didn't notice you come in. Will you be showing around then?" Spyro asked once more.

"Indeed I shall Master Spyro and Mistress Cynder. Please follow me to the student's quarters." The nameless mole squeaked before scurrying how down the hallways. Something about this mole's voice reminded both Spyro and Cynder of someone who'd had a bit too much to drink, but neither of them said anything.

After a few minutes of walking through stone hallways and listening to the mole ramble on about the Academy being '...a great feat of mole engineering' they reached the dragonesses quarters, where Spyro said goodbye to Cynder for the time being. They agreed to meet each other a few hours later just before Terrador's speech began.

After another few minutes of walking they reached the dragon's quarters, where Spyro himself would be staying. Spyro could see names engraved onto signs above the door. At least he assumed they were names, as his own was engraved above his door and the one next to his engraved with the name Seathius. _That's an odd name_ Spyro thought before shaking his head and walking into his own room.

The first thing Spyro noticed was that his room seemed very unnecessarily large. This may have been because all his live Spyro had slept and lived either in a very small space for a dragon, like back at the swamp with Sparx...Actually where was Sparx?

Spyro got his answer in the form of a very loud yell followed by a small hatch on his door being thrown open.

"SPYYYYRROOOOOO! Why didn't you tell me you were back?! Why didn't you come and find me?! Did the evil she-dragon keep her promise?!" Sparx fired question after question at the young purple dragon.

"SPARX!" Spyro yelled back."It's good to see you too but, could you keep your voice down?"

"Sure buddy." Sparx replied in a much quieter voice."But you have to tell me what happened with the big purple dude!"

"Ok, ok Sparx! I'll tell you what happened, but please be quieter; you're giving me a headache." Spyro told him. Then he retold everything that had happened after Ignitus' death, until what happened at the core of the Earth, however leaving out the part where Cynder had turned on him and joined Malefor for a short time. Not only did it hurt him to think about it but, it would also just give Sparx another bad thing to say about Cynder.

Once he had finished, Sparx had been left in an extremely rare speechless moment. All he could manage was.

"Wow...Just wow..." This speechless moment did not last long.

"So you pulled the world back together huh. Well you are the younger brother of the greatest hero ever to live, King of the Atlawa's, Sparx after all. So that is only natural I guess." Sparx boasted in a half joking manner.

"Yeah I'm sure." Spyro replied, rolling his eyes but grinning nonetheless.

"Oh and buddy? I heard about Ignitus. I'm really sorry, he was a great guy." Sparx told him in a very subdued and sad voice.

"Yeah I know he was. He gave his life to save us." Spyro stated, his voice now sounding just hollow and sad. Sparx thought he might appreciate some time on his own after that. Sparx could be considerate, he just rarely was.

A few minutes after Sparx left, Spyro decided to take a look around the male dragon's quarters and see if there was anyone here. He stepped out into the empty corridor and was slightly surprised when he saw the door next to his open. A black dragon, which he assumed was Seathius according to the sign above his door, walked out of the room. Well, Spyro couldn't really say _black _dragon. This dragon had several silver stripes going from the base of his horns to the base of his tail.

"Hello." Was all Spyro said. He wasn't a very good conversation starter.

"Hello." Replied the streaked dragon "I take it you are Spyro then? It is an honour to meet you." The dragon inclined his head slightly in respect.

"Yeah I am. I saw the sign above your door, so I assume you're Seathius then?" Spyro asked.

"That I am. But be careful, assuming things can be dangerous." Seathius warned him.

"Oh ok. You attending the Academy as well then Seathius?"

"Yes I am. But then again there isn't any in these quarters who isn't. If they live in one of these rooms then they are attending the Academy." Seathius informed him.

"Ah well that makes sense I guess. Do you know anyone around here?" Spyro asked again.

"No I don't. I only arrived here this morning. Although I have heard that there will be a speech later. Will you be speaking at the speech?" Seathius asked a question of his own. That mole had been doing too much ranting and raving and not enough informing.

"I will be on stage with the Guardians but, I don't know about speaking. I'll have to ask Terrador about it soon." Spyro admitted.

"I see. I don't suppose you have a schedule for the Dragonic Academy do you?" Seathius inquired.

"Um no I don't why?"

Seathius scowled before replying. "I also don't suppose that the mole Terrador had show you around have a voice that made him sound drunk did he?"

"Yeah he did, but why does it matter?"

Seathius scowled again." The mole that showed you around gave me 2 copies of the schedule for tomorrow. I thought one of them was meant for someone else and it seems that I was right. Do you want me to go get it for you?"

" Uh yeah thanks." Spyro responded.

"One moment." Seathius said before spinning on his paw and walking into the room behind him. A few seconds later he emerged with a piece of sand coloured paper in his hand, which he gave to Spyro.

"That has all the places you will need for tomorrow. Everyone is going to be tested to see what level of skill and knowledge they posses. I am eager to see what you can do, especially." Seathius admitted.

"A test huh? I'm really excited to see other dragons my age, I never have before." Spyro told him.

"Well that makes two of us then." Seathius said.

"You haven't either? Where were you during the war?" Spyro asked.

"I'd rather not answer that question."

"Oh ok then. Could I ask one question though?"

"Depends on the question, what is it?" Seathius replied.

"What element are you? I've never seen a dragon like you before." Spyro said.

"I use the earth element, and modesty aside I have a fairly good grasp of it. For example, I could tell you that right now there is a dragonfly leaning against the stone part of your door."

"Wait how can you tell? Let me check." Spyro said sceptically. Spyro then opened his door to reveal no dragonfly in sight and raised an eyebrow as he turned back to Seathius.

"There isn't a dragonfly in here." He said

"That's because he is hiding behind that stone shelf over there." Seathius told him, pointing at the claw at the shelf that rested just above Spyro's bed. As soon as Seathius revealed this, a golden blur flew out from behind the shelf.

"How did you know I was hiding there!?" The golden blur, Sparx, demanded.

"Well you were listening in on our conversation so you can figure it out. Goodbye, I will see you at the tests tomorrow." And with that Seathius once again spun on his paw and walked away. Spyro and Sparx remained in silence for a few moments before Spyro turned to Sparx, annoyed.

"So Sparx, why are you listening in on my conversation?" Spyro asked.

"Well I had to make sure that if you went to see the evil she-dragon that I was there, didn't I?" Sparx replied indignantly, folding his arms.

"You could have just come with me though." Spyro pointed out. "You didn't have to spy on me like that."

"Well yeah, yeah, yeah I could have done this I could have done that, but that isn't important. Did you see that guy? What was up with his scales, like those silver stripes down his back? They were really strange." Sparx rambled on.

"Sparx!" Spyro scolded him."You can't just say things about dragons scale colour for no reason."

"Aww come on, even you know that that guy's scales were weird!"

"Well I'm going to go and find Terrador. He should be around the Eastern side of the city, overseeing the reconstruction of the area that the Golem destroyed." Spyro told him.

"Well come on then, let's go find the big, green old guy." Sparx exclaimed, buzzing around excitedly.

"Ugh, wait for me Sparx!" Spyro yelled, taking off after him.

* * *

Seathius' first meeting with the legendary purple dragon has been short and somewhat trivial, however the good part was that Seathius did get a good look at Spyro's physical form and could now analyse it to look for weaknesses and strengths. That information could prove useful if Seathius ever had to fight the purple dragon, or even simply to spar.

Seathius was currently walking to the town centre, to get a job. While most students most likely had parents or the like paying for them while they went to the Academy, Seathius did not have that luxury and would have to work when the Academy was closed. He had been told by the rambling mole that, to supply the resources needed for most of the repair work and buildings in Warfang, a mining company was looking for new workers, earth dragons especially.

A few minutes later, Seathius arrived at the mining company and saw the works 'help wanted' engraved into the plaque above the open door. Seathius walked through the entrance, towards a desk which a green dragoness sat behind not noticing Seathius' presence at all.

"Ahem." Seathius cleared his throat to gain the dragoness attention.

"Oh, are you here about the help wanted sign?" She asked."If you are then the boss is right through there."

Seathius didn't thank her. She hadn't helped him at all, but he did need her to know he was there otherwise he may have been seen as a thief. He stalked over to the door that led to the manager's room and walked through it.

"I heard my obnoxious secretary from in here." The dark green stated "So I'm going to guess that you are here for one of the vacant jobs then?"

"Yes I am sir." Seathius replied

"Well, what element are you lad?" The manager questioned.

"The earth element sir." Seathius told him.

"Well lad, I've certainly never seen an earth dragon with black and silver scales before." The older dragon said with a smirk.

"I have never met an earth dragon who weighs exactly 258.67kg and has a 27% gold 49% silver and 24% emerald bust of his own head underneath his desk." Seathius stated, just as level-headed as ever. The smirk evaporated.

"How could you possibly know that?" The green dragon demanded.

"By reaching out with your earth element, I can feel around the earth for minerals and stones such as the ones that your bust is made out of. The same thing goes for weight, except I am judging weight instead." Seathius explained.

"Well that's very impressive lad and were you a tad older I would have hired you in an instant. But you look like your old enough to still be goin' to school, so why do you need this job anyway? Don't you have parents or someone to pay for your school stuff?"

"No I do not. My parents were killed by Cynder." Seathius replied emotionlessly. The older earth dragon seemed taken aback slightly by this teenage dragon speaking about the death of his parents like it was nothing more than a chore, just another thing to explain.

"I-I'm sorry for your loss. I think that you would make an amazing Resonator. That's the job in the mining industry where you basically lead a team of miners around a claim of land, while trying to find anything of value underground. You know gold, precious stones and the like."

"I see. I take it that I or another Resonator would be called every time your company received a new claim then?" Seathius asked.

"That is correct. All I need for you to sign up is for you to sign this contract and you're hired." The manager replied before sliding a piece of paper across the table with his sheet."If you choose to sign it, then your first job shall be on Saturday at noon meet me here."

"Very well." Seathius replied moving his tail to pick up a quill. After he had signed the contract he had discussed a few other things with the manager before leaving, walking out into the afternoon air.

As he walked back through the Main Street back to his room in the male quarter, Seathius spotted something that attracted his attention. It was a small wooden sign with an image of an anvil and a hammer engraved into it._ A blacksmith_ he mused _Once I have some money, a place like that could be very useful._

The Main Street was not, as you would expect, filled with dragons, moles and the like. Instead it was bare with few shops or stands anywhere in sight. This allowed Seathius to move freely through the streets without being bombarded by stares for his strange scale pattern and colour. That was just inconvenient.

While he did silently appreciate the emptiness it did confuse Seathius that there was no-one on the normally packed street. He went through all the possible reasons for this in a matter of seconds. _There aren't many dragons in Warfang? No, Terrador told me otherwise. The Main Street is closing for the night? Doubtful but possible. Terrador's speech? Bingo._ As soon as he realised this he spun on his paw, and walked towards the massive domed building that was The Academy.

When he arrived he saw a mass of bodies of species ranging from cheetahs to dragons packed inside the courtyard of the school. There was whispering and grumbling that, even with his advanced hearing, Seathius could only hear snippets of. _I heard that the legendary purple dragon is no more than an adolescent _some said _There's a rumour that the Black Dragon, The Terror of The Skies, is his closest friend and companion_ others stated _Some people say he was raised by dragonflies! Can you believe it?_ More mumbled. Then Seathius heard the very much audible voice of Terrador clear his throat for silence. A hush fell over the crowd.

"Hello citizens of Warfang." He began simply "I welcome you all here today to not only celebrate the final defeat of The Dark Master, Malefor but also, to commemorate the opening of the newly reconstructed, Dragonic Academy!" There was a roar of approval from the crowd.

"As you well know, the defeat of The Dark Master was down to 2 hero's whom I shall now present to you. Without further ado, I give Spyro and Cynder!" Terrador boomed. Another roar was received from the crowd. From further back on the stage, a purple and a black figure both stepped forward. And then, the purple figure spoke.

"Hello citizens of Warfang, it is certainly an honour to be here today..." Spyro began, before being cut off by a member of the audience who was standing at the front of a group of rather angry and aggressive looking dragons. The leader pointed a talon at Cynder.

"Yeah! It's an honour that _SHE_ doesn't deserve!"


	6. Chapter 5: The Public Opinion

Scars of Shadow Chapter 6: The Public Opinion

Heads turned around to the source of the voice, including Seathius, Spyro and Cynder the middle of whom seemed quite angry.

"That black dragon is _scum _that does not deserve to live in the great dragon city of Warfang!" The lead dragon bellowed, followed closely by a chorus of yells along the same lines from behind him.

"The Guardians are out of their minds letting an evil monster like her live here and, no less, attend the Academy with our children! And to think that the _Purple Dragon of Legend_ agrees with it? Disgraceful! What do you have to say for yourself?" The question from the volatile fire dragon was directed at Spyro and Spyro alone.

Spyro stood very still and clenched his paw into the ground creating deep gouges. If they were having a go at him, very well. But having a go at Cynder for something that wasn't her fault...

When the purple dragon did not answer an earth dragon in the mob plucked up his nerve and launched a small rock straight at Cynder! It was heading right for her eye and before she could react there was an orange barrier in front of her, stretching out from her left to protect her from the hurtling projectile.

Seathius watched with interest from the sidelines as Spyro leapt and extended his wing to shield Cynder from the rock that had been launched but what came next momentarily filled him with intrigue and curiosity. As the purple dragon turned around, his eyes began glowing a bright white.

When Spyro had seen the rock thrown towards Cynder he had been filled with rage as he jumped to protect her. 'Had' is the wrong word for it. He was still furious. And when he turned around his eyes showed it, as he instantly singled out the muddy green dragon that had thrown the rock and narrowed his rage filled eyes.

Faster than anyone in the crowd could blink Spyro was in front of the offending green dragon, only mere inches from his face.

"_What do you think you are doing?!" _Spyro demanded of the older dragon. The earth dragon seemed confused and shocked, but most of all he seemed afraid. Afraid of the wrath of the enraged purple dragon before him.

However the young green dragon seemed to be in luck as Spyro turned once again to face the leader of the group.

"_And you! How DARE you speak of Cynder that way!" _Spyro screeched, forcing the adult dragon back with the sheer power of his voice._"She helped save the entire WORLD and THIS is how you treat her?!"_

Seathius was hearing things. Again. This used to happen a lot but had not happened in years now. He was still a distance behind the rest of the crowd, clutching his head in his paws, trying to shake the voices away. Those whispering voices...

_Anger..._

_Hatred..._

_Malice..._

_Kill..._

But then all of a sudden, they stopped. But there was only a moment of false peace before another voice, this one clear although dripping with rage, filled every corner of his mind penetrating his consciousness with its glowing eyes.

_He is threatening Mistress Cynder. Your duty is to protect her! Kill him NOW! _The voice commanded. Who was Seathius to disobey his new master?

Quietly but firmly, Seathius hit one of his forepaws into the earth beneath him and fashioned a very sharp spike out of the sandstone below him. Very slowly he raised his paw to aim the spike at his target, the threatening red dragon. With a deep breath, he launched the spike...

* * *

"That _witch_ killed my family! She ruined all of our lives, and forced us and our younglings into hiding! What makes you and the Guardians so sure she deserves to be here?" The fire dragon argued.

"_Those things were forced upon her by Malefor and MALEFOR ALONE is to blame for what happened to your family! You should be thanking Cynder for saving your life!"_ Spyro told him, his voice slightly distorted.

"I will NEVER thank HER for anything!" The leader barked."You know what I say? I say we run her out of this city, ISN'T THAT RIGHT!?" Behind him a chorus of yells flew up, followed by heated threats and oaths of violence.

"ENOUGH!" The furious purple dragon boomed "Listen to me you..." That was as far as Spyro got before hearing a small noise from back on the platform and only turned around soon enough to see Cynder's retreating form run from the stage.

Spyro gasped slightly at the sight. He never seen Cynder so defeated, downhearted or...or...or..._Broken_ in the entire time he had known her. But he was dragged out of his thoughts when he heard the voice of the fire dragon behind him, who was unfortunately still insulting Cynder.

"...And don't come back you wretch of a dragon!"

When Spyro whirled round to face the shouting dragon, his eyes contained no less hate, no less contempt and no less rage. However, they had stopped glowing at the sight of Cynder. Spyro closed the distance between them in less than a second, and his claw was at the red and orange dragon's throat just as fast.

"If I were you, I would hope that we do not meet again." Spyro threatened, his voice still containing rage but no longer distorted. He shoved the startled dragon away with his paw and whirled around once more, dashing off to find Cynder.

* * *

Seathius had caught the spike just in time. He had no clue what had happened to him just there, who or what those voices and whispers were. But the good news was that they were gone and the only voice left in his head was his own, scolding him for his outrageous and strange behaviour. He didn't have time for that voice right now. He was busy following Spyro.

So far the purple dragon had been racing after Cynder and was very slowly catching up. However if Cynder at any point decided to hide with her shadow powers, he would never be able to find her. Not without a lot of help at least. Seathius was still trailing both dragons from the rooftops when Cynder realised that Spyro was following her, and as she approached a three-way alley, and simply melded into the wall. Or the shadow _on _the wall anyway.

When Spyro himself approached the intersection a look of confusion settled into his face, as he whipped his head around to check all the possible places Cynder could have been hiding or running to. All that he knew of anyway. Seathius chose this moment to intervene.

"Spyro." Seathius called from the rooftop. "You look confused, is something the matter?"

"Hey Seathius, I don't suppose you saw a black dragon run past here did you?" Spyro recognized him instantly. With scales like his it was difficult for people not to. Seathius dropped down into the alley before answering the purple dragon.

"I take it you are talking about Cynder then. Well look around you what do you see?" Seathius replied.

"I don't see anything except walls and alleys."

"And what are on the walls?"

"Nothing except plants and shadows. Or am I missing something?" Spyro asked confused.

"Think, what can Cynder do that involves shadows?"

And suddenly everything clicked into place in Spyro's head. He scoured the alleyways around for the tell-tale smoke that could show him where Cynder was, and then he found it in the corner of a dead end alley.

"Thanks for your he-"Spyro began to thank Seathius but when he turned around the other dragon was gone. "Well now everyone seems to be disappearing on me..." Spyro mumbled to himself. He then turned to face the small cloud of shadows emanating from the end of the alley.

"Come on out Cynder, I know you're there." Spyro told her. For a moment there was no response, but then the small cloud of smoke disappeared replaced by the shaking, crying form of Cynder. Spyro approached the distraught black dragoness and wrapped his wings around her instantly, only wanting to see her happy again.

"T-they _hate _me, Spyro." Cynder choked out, her body still being wracked by sobs. "It was stupid of me to ever expect anything else, for a m-monster like me..." Spyro turned her around to look her in the eye.

"Cynder, you are _not _a monster." Spyro said firmly "A monster wouldn't help the defenceless when Warfang was burning, a monster would never have helped me fight Malefor and..." he paused for a moment. "A monster would never have been such a great friend to me as you have."

Cynder was still shaking slightly when she turned to face the young purple dragon. The scales around her eyes glistened slightly and a few tears were still rolling down her face.

"I don't deserve your kindness or your friendship anyway. You wouldn't want to be around someone who everyone else hates even if I did." Cynder said.

"I don't care what everyone else thinks or what everyone else see's. I care about who you are and I care about you." Spyro declared.

Cynder sniffled again before answering, not as downcast as before.

"Thanks Spyro. I really can't thank you enough for everything you've done for me."

"You don't have to thank me, I'm just glad to see you're starting to feel better."

"I guess we should go find the Guardians, huh?" Cynder asked.

"Yeah, yeah I guess we should. See if they know more about what happened than us."

* * *

Seathius had watched the event unfold with only slight but focused interest from a rooftop where he was hidden from view. That conversation had not provided him with much information on either Spyro or Cynder, but he did now know two things he had not before.

The first was that Cynder was much more mentally fragile then Seathius had expected on his journey to the city, as he had thought at the time that her time serving under the Dark Master would have strengthened her mental defences. It was clear that it had, however, done quite the opposite and weakened Cynder mentally, leaving her unprepared for the sheer hate of the mob that had gathered only ten minutes earlier.

The second was that the purple dragon, Spyro, had a clear connection with Cynder that had had stopped him from making the best tactical choice when the mob began hurling insults. Instead he had resorted to trying to reason with and then very quickly threaten the leader of the mob. Seathius did not understand what could be so important about Cynder that it had clouded the obvious logical solution.

This brought him onto his next question. Why had he decided to help Spyro find Cynder anyway? It wasn't helpful to him and Spyro, along with Cynder's mental state, was none of his concern. What could have provoked him to do such an irrational thing? He already knew the answer.

_He_ had commanded that Seathius help the purple dragon find Cynder. The same one who had told him to assassinate the leader of the mob. _Him_, the one who had been with him for years. And the one who, up until a couple of days ago and now had been silent for almost as long.

The one with the glowing eyes filled his head as Seathius picked his way across the rooftops back to his room.

* * *

The news of the scene that had been caused at the Gardens outside the Academy had spread throughout the city like wildfire, and any doubts of who the purple dragon's companion was had been crushed. The Guardians considered this while sat in the meeting room reserved for them alone, contemplating whether or not it would even be safe to have Cynder out in the open.

"The incident today," Terrador began "Will almost certainly not be the last. The leader of that mob wanted to get to Cynder and had Spyro not been there, there would not have been much we could do to stop them, short of starting a brawl in the middle of the city."

"I agree completely Terrador, however this does not leave us with many options for what to _do _about Cynder's situation. We will never be able to subdue the hate of that mob and banishing Cynder from Warfang, after all she has done for us, is unthinkable, inconsiderable, ungrateful..." Volteer babbled in response.

"Yes, yes I think we have heard enough from your motor mouth to understand that making Cynder leave is completely out of the question, but we as of yet have still failed to come upon a solution to the problem. Any ideas Terrador?" Cyril asked. The Earth Guardian made a noise much alike to a groan.

"The only thing I can think of is to announce that Cynder is under the protection of the Guardians and that an attack on her verbal or _otherwise _would be an attack on us. But the amount of problems that could cause would be massive. Riots, protests and assault just to list a few things." Terrador grumbled.

"Well what other option does that leave us then, sit back and watch while one of our hero's life is destroyed at best, and I dare not say what at worst." Cyril exclaimed.

"I am afraid we do not have another option available, lest you are both ready to deal with a possible Civil War. We can only hope that Spyro's presence near Cynder calms people showing them that she can be trusted."

"Or it could just enrage the masses more that the legendary 'Purple Dragon' is ok with the 'Terror of The Skies' being around." Cyril deadpanned.

Before Terrador could respond a knock was heard from the entrance to the meeting room, followed by the entrance of two much smaller dragons.

"Ah Spyro, Cynder I was going to send someone to look for you. We very worried when you ran off the stage. I am glad to see you're ok." Terrador said.

"Thanks for the concern Terrador, I'm feeling ok now, thanks to Spyro anyway." Cynder replied nodding towards her companion slightly.

"Glad to her it young one." Cyril remarked "But down to business, business being what to do about the incident earlier."

"Well what happened, happened and there is nothing we can do about that Cyril, however might I suggest that we have some watch over young Cynder, making sure that no further unpleasantries befall her?" Volteer offered.

"Don't you really think you should ask Cynder what she thinks you should do before just coming to some sort of a conclusion?" Spyro interrupted, turning all heads in the room towards him in the process.

"You do make a good point young dragon," Terrador conceded "What do you think should be done Cynder?"

"I don't think we should do anything." Cynder answered. Her response left the Guardians with slightly surprised look on their faces as they cast each other glances. After a moment Terrador spoke up once again.

"I am afraid I do not follow your train of thought young one, could you please explain?" He asked

"Well let's be honest, if you all think it was my fault or not, these dragons do have good reason to hate me, and it wouldn't really be fair to arrest them or the like for simply grieving their loss." Cynder explained.

The Guardians exchanged another set of questioning glances at each other before returning their attention to the two much younger dragons in front of them.

"Very well." Terrador began "If that is what you believe to be the best course of action then that is what shall be done. Might I also suggest that you simply retire to your chambers for now, it is getting late."

Both dragons acknowledged the elder with a nod and left the same way they had entered and although he hadn't said anything, anyone could very easily see that he was not pleased with the decision that had been made. Once the two young heroes were out of earshot the Guardians began to converse once more.

"I do believe that the decision that we have come to will only end in tragedy, misfortune, disaster..." Volteer began with a start, only to be interrupted by a less than pleased Cyril.

"Yes, yes Volteer we have heard quite enough, although on this occasion I do happen to agree with you. Do you not think, Terrador, that there will be further incidents that may very well end with outcomes much less fortunate than today?"

"That is not at all what I believe Cyril however, I do believe that Cynder does not want anything to be changed in regard of what to do with the situation, and considering that is involves her most of all, I believe that we should listen to her and there shall be no more further discussion about it." Terrador rumbled, before swiftly leaving through the same exit Spyro and Cynder had walked through only minute's ago. Cyril turned to his bright, yellow-scaled associate before speaking.

"I suppose all we can do is watch and see what plays out hm?" Was all the Guardian of Ice said.

* * *

Suraxis had been as shocked as most others had been when the massive argument between the Dragon of Legend and a mob of others had broken out during Terrador's speech. News of the argument had already, in the hour that had gone by since, spread to every corner of the city. But by now that meant little to the bronze dragoness. She had nothing against Cynder, especially after being saved by her and Spyro.

Suraxis was searching for the one dragon she new in the city hoping to find him even if only to be in the presence of someone she felt she could trust. Even if she didn't have a clue why. She had never met the black and silver dragon before in her life and he certainly didn't seem like the most open or friendly type or, above all, trusting. She was simply going o a gut feeling that she could trust Seathius. That could end badly.

After a few minutes walking Suraxis found the males quarters. Dragoness' weren't allowed to enter that section of the building after a certain hour but for now she had time. She wandered down the stone corridors, scanning the signs above the doors without even turning her head until she found the one she was looking for. A wooden a stone door with silver writing engraved on the wood above.

She raised a paw to tap the door before, to her surprise, the door swung open behind it standing a black and silver dragon only an inch or two taller than her.

"Hello Suraxis." Seathius said. Suraxis blinked away her surprise at her only 'friend's' uncanny ability to know when she or anyone else was around. _Probably due to his earth powers _she thought.

"Hello Seathius, how are you?" Suraxis asked.

"Fine." He answered in a single word.

"Did you hear about the incident at Terrador's speech earlier? It seems to have spread throughout the city like wildfire!" Suraxis exclaimed.

"You mean the argument between Spyro and the mob I take it. Yes, I happened to be there after all." Seathius told her.

"You were at Terrador's speech? Where were you I didn't see you anywhere." Suraxis asked confused.

"I'm not that easy to be found if I don't want to be."

Suraxis wanted to ask why he hadn't wanted to be found and how he would even be able to hide in a crowd with shining scales like his, but she held her tongue. After all, now was not the time. Instead she decided to change the subject to something a little more immediate.

"Are you worried at all about the tests tomorrow? You know, the ones that the Guardians are making all dragons entering the Academy take?" The bronze dragoness tilted her head waiting for Seathius' answer.

"No, I'm not. Are you?" Seathius replied. Suraxis was slightly taken back by how blunt her friends answer had been, but once again refrained from saying anything about it.

"I guess I am a little, but that's only natural I guess, being tested by someone as important as the Guardians." Suraxis admitted. Just as Suraxis was going to continue with her explanation a bell tolled in the distance, only slightly muffled by the stone walls blocking it. It was a bell that sounded when the curfew between male and female dragons took effect.

"Well, it looks like we shall have to cut our conversation short." Seathius sighed slightly.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow at the tests then Seathius?" Suraxis asked beginning to turn to leave.

"I sure you shall." Seathius replied bowing his head slightly. "Goodbye and goodnight, Suraxis."

"You too, Seathius." The bronze dragoness returned before taking off down the hall.

Seathius allowed himself only the smallest, most unnoticeable smile before closing the door and returning to his bed. Something about Suraxis just made Seathius...Made him...Made him...Happy for lack of a better word. An emotion he was sure he would have to do away with, lest it compromise his logical and tactical thoughts. But for a moment at least he allowed it to stay.

He smiled that unnoticeable smile once again before surrendering to a cautious light sleep at best...


	7. Chapter 6: Testing Grounds

Scars of Shadow Chapter 7: Testing Grounds

The moment Seathius had awoken he was on full alert, his eyes fully opening, scanning the room for any possible shred of danger. When he found none he began a two and a half hour-long exercise session, as he had done for the last however many years. While most creatures would not have time for this in the morning, Seathius had to admit that waking up at five in the morning did have its benefits. The first half of his exercises just involved things he could do in his room but after that he was certain he couldn't do flying exercises inside a room.

Seathius took a look into the corridor outside his room checking once again for anything wrong with the immediate area. While this was most likely unnecessary, Seathius did not take a single risk in life that could be avoided. When he was satisfied that there was nothing wrong, Seathius began jogging to the courtyard that was used reserved for students of the Academy, located in the centre of all the living quarters.

When he arrived, Seathius was slightly surprised to see a bronze dragoness twirling through the sky, performing aerial manoeuvres not performed by most veteran flyers let alone adolescents. _Well she is skilled in flying. Duly noted. _Seathius thought before approaching the fountain at the centre of the courtyard, making sure that Suraxis could see him as he did so.

After a few moments, Seathius noticed as Suraxis began to angle her descent to land in front of him, pinning her wings to the side in order to increase her speed. A few seconds before she was going to collide with the earth, Suraxis lent her head back and snapped her wings out slowing herself to a near stop only a few inches above the ground.

"Impressive," Seathius commented as Suraxis strode towards him "I haven't seen skill like that in a while."

"Good morning to you too. What are you doing up so early?" Suraxis asked.

"I could ask you the same question."

"That you could, but I asked first" Suraxis replied albeit slightly smugly and with a slight smirk on her face. Seathius simply stood there silently for a few moments before replying.

"Very well. I'm up because I woke up an hour and thirty-five minutes ago in hope of getting my exercises done. This hope however is wavering every second I spend standing here." He stated evenly.

"Well don't let me stop you then." Suraxis mumbled, before raising her voice accompanied by a slight smirk."But it _is _a free sky up there, do be careful where you're flying."

Seathius just made a slight _hmph _sound before without warning propelling himself into the sky faster than most dragons could follow. Suraxis responded with a grunt of her own before taking off after him. They both new full well what she had meant when she had said _it's a free sky_. She wanted a contest and Seathius wasn't going to pass up an opportunity to weigh up the skill of a possible opponent or ally.

They flew quickly to opposite positions above the garden courtyard below, readying themselves for the possible impact that would begin the contest. Suraxis had asked for a game of _chicken _and Seathius was no coward. All of a sudden they dashed towards each other at a dizzying speed, looking more like streaks of colour than dragons.

Time seemed to slow down as the two dragon neared each other, ready to try send the other one into the ground and thereby prove there skill.20 feet...10 feet...5 feet... There was a clash of ivory claws, one set grey and the other white, as Seathius and Suraxis engaged in an aerial claw fight, ducking and weaving with great skill while looking for an opening to send the other to the ground and ultimately, defeat.

Suraxis grin inwardly as she slowly started pushing Seathius further to the ground with increasingly fast light attacks, leaving him no openings for a counter. Or so she thought. Within a few seconds she was shocked as after a slightly heavier attack than her others, Seathius dodged and grabbed her foreleg, using the extra strength from her swipe to direct her downwards as her used his tail to push down on her back.

Seathius looked on from high above with a straight face as Suraxis was sent hurtling to the ground after his quick and brutal counter, only descending when he saw Suraxis collide with the ground albeit roughly. By the time Seathius reached his defeated opponent, Suraxis was back on her feet with a much less than pleased look on her face.

"Well I guess you win then." Suraxis admitted, before mumbling something about a lucky counter.

"Could you repeat what you just said please?" Seathius asked, raising an eye ridge at Suraxis' indignant attitude.

"I said, I guess-" She began before being cut off by Seathius.

"No, no not that. What you said after that."

There was a few seconds of silence before Suraxis scowled.

"Nothing." She stated plainly.

"That's what I thought you said."

"Well if you're so sure of yourself, then why not have a rematch?" Suraxis questioned.

"You want to try again? After _that_ disgrace?" Seathius countered with a raised eye ridge.

"What are you afraid or something?"

There were another few moments of tense silence before Suraxis got her reply.

"...Very well."

This cycle continued in Seathius' favour for well over an hour, an endless repetition of _fight, lose, get up, taunt, fight again. _The cycle only ended when the high pitched ringing of the wake-up call echoed throughout the courtyard, alerting both dragons of the time.

"Well it seems that we will have to cut this little competition short." Suraxis stated with a sigh.

"What competition? It was just me beating you over and over again for an hour and a half."

Suraxis went to playfully punch Seathius in the shoulder before being painfully countered for what had to be the 47th time in an hour.

"Was that really necessary?" Suraxis asked, pulling her paw back from Seathius.

"Absolutely."

Suraxis let out a frustrated sigh in response. Seathius' blunt one to two word answers could be really grating on her nerves.

"Well good luck with the Academy exams later." Suraxis said

"I prefer not to leave things to luck."

"A simple 'you too' would have sufficed..." Suraxis muttered before striding off to prepare for the first test of the day- the beginners combat exam.

The day was going to work through a process of elimination. First part of the day was the beginner's exams, both combat and otherwise. After that was the intermediate exams for those that passed the beginners exam with high enough grades, while the lesser students were given new timetables and shown around their new school.

Then was the part Suraxis was quite intrigued by: The advanced combat exams. These were the tests that were reserved for the best of the intermediate class and the only class with limited spaces. Suraxis was quite curious who would qualify for the advanced class. After all, it never hurts to know your enemy, even if it _is _just for sparring...

Suraxis wasn't the only one anxious for the tests later in the day. At the same time another dragoness had just had the rattling, ringing noise of the morning wake up bell.

* * *

Groaning from the untimely awakening, Cynder dragged her eyes open only to snap them shut again as they were assaulted by the sunlight streaming into her room from the balcony. Stretching her legs as she rose from her bedding cushions, Cynder glanced over at a device on the shelf to the left of her bed. It was an ingenious device, created by the moles of course, that used several small gears to keep track of the time of day. Extremely helpful.

The device read at around mid-morning or 9 o'clock. Which was about the time that Cynder was told she should be preparing for today's tests on the schedule. Cynder's first test was the basic combat exam. Oh _joy_. Just finish fighting a war with the most evil dragon ever to live just to be thrown into a _basic_ combat exam. Was it really necessary? Though it made no sense to her, Cynder wasn't going to make a big deal out of something so trivial.

Cynder exited her room and began making her way through the several corridors that led to the exit closest to the Academy's training arena, before noticing the distinct lack of other dragoness' in the area.

_Fine by me. They would probably all hate me anyway. _She thought to herself. Soon after that, Cynder's train of thought was cut short as she noticed another dragoness at one of the intersections in the labyrinth of corridors and hallways that led to the exit. Cynder shrank by slightly as she noticed the bronze dragoness in front of her, hoping that the dragoness would simply continue walking and not notice her. Fate was not so kind.

As soon as the pad on Cynder's back paw touched the ground the dragoness' head whipped round to face her, crouching into a defensive position. Upon seeing Cynder the dragoness' posture relaxed slightly along with the focused look on her features.

"Oh, hello" The bronze dragoness greeted Cynder. The dragoness' greeting was met with a confused look from Cynder.

"You're Cynder aren't you? I saw you at the speech yesterday before...Well you know. I'm Suraxis by the way." The dragoness continued. Cynder seemed to be still lost for words as she was confronted with a situation she never thought she'd find herself in. Being greeted by someone who didn't think she was a monster other than the Guardians and Spyro.

"I'll take a guess and say that after yesterday you must think that everyone in the city hates you for what Malefor made you do huh?" Suraxis asked, receiving a small, disheartened nod in response.

"Well I doubt it means much coming from just me, but I don't blame you at all for what Malefor did. I've seen firsthand just how powerful he was..." Suraxis offered.

"Really?! Apart from Spyro and The Guardians you're just the about the only one who doesn't, and it actually really means a lot, thanks." Cynder replied quite cheerful with the fact that not _everyone_ blamed her.

"Yeah really. I agree with what Spyro said yesterday, people should be thanking you and him for saving them not forming mobs to try and attack you!" Suraxis scowled, visibly disgusted by even the thought of the mob's actions yesterday. Her scowl cleared a moment later being replaced a look of brief thought.

"Cynder, I was just wondering, if you don't mind could you tell me about what happened with you and Spyro? I mean on your journey to defeat the Dark Master." Suraxis asked.

"I'd be happy to, but I really need to get to this basic combat exam, so I'm not sure I'll have time." Cynder replied, pleasantly surprised by her new friends interest in her adventures with Spyro.

"I'm going to the same exam. Every dragon who is entering the Academy has to take the exam before they can enter and if they fail the basic combat or the basic knowledge tests then they are refused entry."

"Oh ok, well I'll talk about it while we walk there then."

And so the dragoness' began strolling casually towards the arena inside the Academy, traversing the corridors of their quarters then entering the main corridors and eventually the inside of the Academy itself, all the while Cynder re-telling of her adventures with Spyro and Sparx. Just as Cynder reached the beginning of the battle against the lava golem in Warfang, she realised that Suraxis and herself had just reached the corridor that lead to the training arena of the Academy, as shown on the map.

When she entered the room, Cynder was filled with both fear and great anxiety. All around were dragons ranging from her size and age to dragons who looked as small as Spyro was when Cynder had seen him for the first time. There were dragons that may have two parents, and then there were others who may only have one or none at all. How many of them had become orphans, their mothers or fathers made widows and widowers by her orders as general, by her actions, by her own paws?

She was given no time to contemplate what she may have done before she got her answer, in the form of ugly stares and dirty sneers that she was bombarded with the moment she entered. Cynder was about to simply turn tail and walk back to her room before she saw the one person who had never blamed her and was the only reason she was still there in the room.

"Hey Cynder." Spyro greeted as he walked up to her. He turned to face the other young dragons in the room.

"Anyone here feel like staring and glaring?" Spyro asked with a flat voice. The sentence was said as a question but no one in the room missed the underlying threat and, not wanting to invoke the purple dragon's wrath, quickly though some sooner than others, returned to face the dragon who was standing at the front of the room, Terrador. He did not look pleased. His voice sounded like a grindstone on chalk as he spoke.

"If you would all be so kind as to return your attention to the explanation of the combat exams, I would be very much obliged." Growled the green, armour clad Guardian and very soon those who hadn't been turned by the purple dragon's threat soon saw sense enough to return their attention to their soon to be master.

"Thank you, now as I was saying..." Terrador said as he began his explanation anew. Cynder was very grateful for Spyro's appearance and quickly covered the few meters left between them and gave him a grateful and apologetic smile.

"Thanks for that, Spyro. I probably would have just left if you hadn't shown up, as it's fairly obvious that your one of the only two people in this room that doesn't seem to want me dead for what I did." Cynder sighed, nodding to the now attentive crowd of dragons behind Spyro. At this point Suraxis, who had remained silent before then, took over.

"I don't quite know who they think they are, practically forming a mob like that acting as if they have never done wrong in their lives!" She ranted with a sneer on her face "Why don't they try being controlled and forced to fight in a war under a tyrant and see if they carry on sitting on their self-righteous tails with their dirty glares then!"

Spyro's reaction to the sudden rant was an impressed stare before a smile spread across his muzzle, practically jubilant to find someone else who saw sense enough not to blame Cynder for what Malefor did.

"I'm glad to have _finally _found someone who has some common sense! What's your name?" Spyro asked.

"Her name's is Suraxis; she's a really nice dragoness who came here after the war with Malefor was over. I've just been telling her about our journey to the Dark Master on our way here." Cynder explained.

"Oh cool, are you taking the basic combat exam to Suraxis? It would certainly be nice to have another friendly face around here." Spyro admitted.

"Yes I am. Everyone who is entering the Academy is taking the basic exam, but if they fail then they are refused entry and have to retry the test at a later date. Although I very much doubt you two will have any trouble." Suraxis added with a smile. Just as she finished her sentence, Terrador's voice boomed through the arena calling to everyone there that the first of the basic combat exams was about to begin and that everyone must stand clear of the training circle in the middle. Then the first potential student walked into the centre of the ring, a rather large fire dragon shaking in anticipation of performing in front of not only a Guardian and a legendary purple dragon to boot.

This mixture of excitement, fear and nervousness was what, in all likeliness, caused him to slip up in his third round a few minutes later against 8 small training dummies where a misplaced, heavy strike had lead to the fire user being floored and leapt upon by his opponents, forcing Terrador to finish the exam. The dragon had passed... barley, but he certainly wasn't making it into the intermediate classes any time in the near future. He limped out of the ring; back to his group of friends who gave him hearty pats on the back and cheers for passing.

The next several potentials were at best uninspiring, with some scraping through in the 3rd round just like the first candidate and others outright failing the most basic of the combat tests. But then came one particular dragon's test. Cynder's. Terrador called out her name and several dragons outside the ring visibly flinched and back away from the ring in fear of the name of 'The Terror of the Skies' as they saw her briskly jog to the centre of the ring.

"Are you ready to begin the exam Cynder?" The Guardian asked eyeing the dragons who had backed away from the ring in response to Cynder's reappearance among them. In particular one of the earth dragons looked like he may...

"Yes I am ready Master Terrador." Cynder replied, cutting Terrador's train of thought short of arriving at a conclusion.

"Very well, begin." Terrador stated summoning up the first round in the form of two small, basic dummies. They were in pieces before they had even been able to move as Cynder's claw separated a dummies' torso from its waist, slicing her tail blade across the others throat without even looking. Those who had been considered 'brave' enough to not back away recoiled at the brutal efficiency with which 'The Dark Master's General' had dispatched the two dummies their friends had been struggling with.

The only dragons who had not backed away from the arena were Terrador himself, Spyro, Suraxis whom was standing next to the purple dragon and a black and silver dragon who the earth Guardian recognized as Seathius, who simply seemed intrigued by the entire spectacle

There was only a few seconds of respite before the next round started this time consisting of the same dummies only in a larger quantity of 5. The round had only just started before Terrador could feel something off about the situation and turned a stare to the crowd surrounding the fighting black dragon. Then he saw it. Time appeared to slow down as the earth dragon he had noted earlier raised a forepaw off of the ground before slamming it quickly back down to the earth, launching a spike of jagged rock straight for the already occupied dragoness in the ring. There wasn't even time for a warning before the missile hit, spraying dirt and dust all over the arena.

But when the debris cleared it was made plainly obvious that the earth projectile had not collided with its indented target.

The silver and black dragon standing in front of Cynder lowered his still green glowing forepaw to the ground before stalking over to the dragon that had been bold enough to outright attack Cynder in the first place. When he reached the slightly larger dragon he gave him a glare that made everyone in the room believe that looks really could kill. Then he pressed one of his claws to the other dragon's throat

"I don't suppose you would care to interrupt anyone else's exam would you?" Seathius questioned the attacker with a voice that would make a grown dragon want to run for the hills. He received a rushed, frightened shake of a head as an answer. Seemingly satisfied with the response, Seathius turned on his paws, intentionally spraying dirt in the direction of the offender, and simply walked back to where he had been standing before as if nothing had happened, dragons scattering as he approached.

For a moment there was silence, the shock acting as a muzzle for any sounds that would have been made. Then Terrador broke the silence with a roared command.

"EVERYONE OUT! THOSE OF YOU WHO HAVE YET TO TAKE THE EXAM, RETURN HERE AT THE SAME TIME TOMMOROW! Now go!" He ordered before turning to the earth dragon, who still seemed paralysed by fear."That does not apply to _**you **_however. It would be wise for you not to return here for a long time!"

The next few minutes consisted of a scramble for the doorway, lead by none other than the terrified and humiliated earth dragon. When the scramble ended, there remained only four dragons in the chamber, who had by Terrador's request formed a group in the centre of the training room.

They all had questions they wanted answered.

* * *

**_This is a quick authors note stating that this will be the last chapter for around two weeks as I have yet to write the next. Sorry about that..._**


	8. Chapter 7: Superiority

Scars of Shadow Ch 8: Superiority

The three dragons that were sat in the middle of the training arena had only been silent for a few moments, but anyone could tell it was becoming suffocating quickly. The sound of the bustling city outside of the circular walls was muffled to a mere din in the background heard only through the complete silence of the arena. After what seemed like an eternity to two of the three dragons, one of them decided to break the heavy silence.

"Well," Cynder started, taking a breath "I guess I should really thank you for helping me earlier."

Seathius turned to face the other black dragon, with a small grin tugging at the corner of his mouth. He could easily tell as he looked at her that she had become uneasy when Spyro had practically been forced to leave, or most likely wait outside the arched door for Cynder.

"You're welcome, I was glad to help." Seathius replied heartfully. Cynder smiled back in response before having her attention stolen by a rather loud grunt from Terrador, whose expression looked torn between being grateful for the assistance of protecting one of his students or enraged by the fact that he had practically threatened another with death. Before Terrador could come to any apparent conclusion, Seathius spoke up again, this time looking extremely guiltily at his forepaws while speaking.

"Master Terrador, I just wanted to say how sorry I am about what I did before. I was so angry about what that dragon was doing against someone who not only hasn't done anything wrong, but helped to save the world... I guess I sort of just saw red for a few moments." Seathius confessed. Upon hearing what the much younger dragon had to say, Terrador's expression changed to a more grateful one, even if it was clear he still had a few stern words to say.

"I understand how angering it can be to see an innocent dragon attacked, and I am more than grateful that you protected Cynder from the earth projectile, _however_ I cannot allow you to threaten another dragon like that again, do you understand?" Terrador asked firmly.

"Yes Master Terrador, thank you for your leniency." Seathius replied inclining his head respectfully. _After all _he thought to himself _it never does well to make enemies of powerful and influential figures. I learnt that a long time ago..._

"Very well, Cynder, Seathius you may both leave although I would like you both back here for the combat exams at three this afternoon, based on Temporal Clock Tower time. I believe that should you attempt to take or re-take the combat exams in the presence of the rest of the class another incident would arise." Terrador explained.

"We will, Master Terrador." The two younger dragons chorused with a polite bow, before leaving the arena. Just outside the arched doorway was a slightly unsettled purple dragon, though anyone could recognize the look of relief that came over him when he saw Cynder. He approached the other 2 dragons as they exited the Academy Arena, greeting them with a smile and a slight nod.

"Hey Cynder hey Seathius, how'd the talk with Terrador go?" He asked cheerfully.

"I'd say it went fairly well, Seathius and I have to come back here at three this afternoon to take the combat exams though. Kind of frustrating but understandable really." Cynder snorted, clearly unimpressed at the inconvenience. _Though at least I won't have to deal with being attacked by random dragons while I'm distracted _ she thought to herself with a slightly melancholy attitude.

"I _cannot _believe the nerve of that dragon!" Spyro exclaimed, infuriated by the offender's earlier actions "To just attack you, and in full view of a Guardian as well!"

"I'm glad you can see my point of view, Spyro." Seathius scowled "What that dragon was thinking is beyond me! Although I suppose my intervening could have been slightly more _subtle._"

"Well personally I'm glad you did what you did. I don't even want to think about what would have happened if you hadn't." Spyro revealed before shivering slightly. He _really _didn't want to think about it.

"I didn't really thank you properly though." Cynder said, frowning "I want to make it up to you but I don't really know how."

"It's really fine, I just did it to try and help you. You don't have to do anything to repay me" Seathius replied with a smile, "It must be hard enough to live with everyone giving you evil eyes, but attacking you is just going way too far. Although if you really care that much about repaying me, telling me about the adventures you two had would be enough for me."

Cynder didn't seem convinced that this was enough and insisted again that she would find a way to repay him... Eventually. The trio began to walk towards the area where the mess hall was located on their maps, chatting comfortably about Spyro's original adventure to defeat and eventually save Cynder from the Dark Master. Just as Spyro and Cynder were about to tell Seathius of the events leading up to the Eternal Night, they reached their destination.

Their presence very quickly drew a lot of attention, from ugly, hate filled, stares directed at Cynder, which she did her utmost to ignore, to an awed silence at the presence of Spyro, which seemed to unnerve the purple dragon quite a bit. Quickly growing tired of the attention that was being directed at him as a result, Seathius decided to take matters into his own paws.

"So I take it none of you took note of my earlier example." Seathius announced darkly. Most dragons, having been present for the event, took the warning and averted their eyes going back to their previous conversations, clearly not wanting to challenge the silver striped dragon. Spyro and Cynder both raised eye ridges at the statement, but on the inside were both quite relieved that they were no longer being stared at. Seemingly satisfied with the reaction from the majority of the crowd, Seathius turned back to the sceptical faces of the two hero's behind him.

"Let's go find somewhere to sit shall we? This place looks packed, but I'm sure we can find an empty table somewhere." Seathius suggested, gesturing with his head to the mass of tables around them. Agreeing with this, Spyro and Cynder began to follow the dragon ahead of them before being stopped in their tracks by a buzzing, bright ball of light.

"Hey Spyro, you weren't planning on just leaving me out were you?" Sparx exclaimed indignantly, arms crossed. Having only seen his adopted brother and best friend for around ten minutes after he'd returned from the fight of his life against one of the most evil beings to ever walk the planet, one could understand his frustration. Put in a tight spot by the accusation in his brother's words, Spyro tried to defend himself.

"I'm sorry Sparx it's just I got distracted by something that happened earlier today and I forgot..." Spyro was cut off mid sentence by another angry bout of speech from the small, yellow dragonfly.

"I know what happened with Mr. 'I-can-see-through-walls' during the combat tests earlier today, I run messages for the Guardians remember? I'm just ticked that that's all it takes for you to forget about your brother who you haven't seen since before the life-threatening battle that you might not have come back from! But you know _no big deal _**right**?" Sparx ranted in one long breath, a foreign look of anger plastered on his face. Spyro, visibly shocked by the outburst, just stood there mouth agape, his ability to form coherent sentences all but gone.

Cynder, while faring slightly better than Spyro, wore a surprised expression at witnessing the normally cheerful, wise-cracking dragonfly blow up in such a way, especially at his brother. She had never seen him this way before, even when around her which surprised her. She knew all she could do was watch though. She knew it wasn't her place to intervene.

Upon seeing the reaction from his adopted brother, Sparx faltered his face taking on a much more awkward and bashful expression, realising that his outburst had attracted quite the amount of attention from nearby dragons. He rubbed one of his hands over his antenna to the back of his head and diverted his gaze to the ground. Sensing that someone had to say something, he decided to break the awkward silence.

"Look, I'm sorry I had such a massive go at you, man." Sparx started, sighing slightly. "It's just, you know, were brothers. You went off to fight a massive evil dragon, and I was stuck here wondering if I would ever see you again or if you and Cynder were out injured somewhere, breathing your last breath."

Cynder's eyes widened slightly, once again surprised by Sparx as he seemed to show care that she of all people would be hurt. Sparx noticed this and sent her the smallest of grins.

"I know I act like a bit of... Ok a massive jerk towards you sometimes Cynder, but I don't really mean it. But even I run out of things to lighten up a situation now and then." The dragonfly admitted before turning back to Spyro. "I shouldn't have just blown up at you like that... But tell me where you are now and then would you?"

"Sure Sparx, I'm sorry for not spending more time with you after I got back. Want to come and sit with us, you know tell us where all these dragon's came from?" Spyro asked, happy to have his normal brother back. With and answer in the form of a nod and a smile, Spyro turned back to Seathius, who had a small smirk on his face.

"Well now _that's_ over, who wants to get something to eat? I'm starving!" He asked. Sparx couldn't resist.

"Why do you all need to eat so much? Look at the size of you! Try this thing called 'salad' every now and then you might eventually be half as amazingly good looking as me." Sparx quipped, causing Cynder to sigh in mock exasperation though her grin betrayed her amusement. _Yep he's back_ she though. Spyro just rolled his eyes and Seathius put a paw to his chest and winced, feigning hurt, before they all agreed on finding a table.

* * *

What he was doing now was completely routine to him. Find an influential, yet at the same time _reachable_ figure, earn their trust and then use them for whatever helps you most. Spyro, Cynder even Sparx... They were all just things he could use to help himself. But they would never know that.

What had happened earlier in the training arena had presented him with the perfect opportunity to get on the two _hero's_ good sides. It wasn't that he had anything against them, it was just he knew better than nigh anyone that you should never trust those you don't truly know. And you never really know anyone. Never know if they are sincere or conniving, good or evil, loyal or traitorous. That's why he didn't trust them.

None of this ever came close to showing through Seathius expression as he laughed and smiled with the others he was with, sat at a stone table that was near enough to the kitchen that you could smell the meat sizzling. Positioning himself in such a way that he defensively had all angles covered, Seathius was pleased when a small female mole came to asked what they would like, bowing low out of respect for the hero's she was serving.

_Well it seems that not every species has it out for Cynder. Although the moles have no reason to. Cynder could never, for all the might of herself and her army, get near Warfang._ Seathius thought, listening only in part to the conversation between the two dragon's and the mole.

"I don't suppose you have any deer, do you?" Spyro asked politely, clearly not used to being served by anyone, since he was a hatchling growing up in the swamp with Sparx... Who at that moment looked less than pleased about being completely ignored by the waitress. Finally Sparx decided to take matters into his own hands. Flying down from his perch above his brothers head, he began waving his hands in front of the mole.

"Helloooo, just because some of us aren't as big of any of you, doesn't mean we aren't living creatures! I'm here too ya'know." Sparx stated.

Seathius looked on in amusement... Well _faked _amusement... As the purple hero admonished his brother before apologising to the waitress. After a request for chicken for Cynder and Seathius politely declining anything, the small mole turned to go back to the kitchens, beaming at having spoken to the two hero's. After only a few moments Seathius could sense things about to go drastically wrong.

To his left he could see a group of four dragons, surprisingly one from each element, stalking towards the table. As they approached the leader, a fire dragon with a well defined muscle structure and a look on his face that soundlessly told you that he was out to make trouble for the fun of it. And right now Seathius could tell that the next thing he planned to make trouble about was Cynder. Why people wouldn't leave her alone was, truthfully, beyond him. The dragon grunted as he approached, interrupting a conversation between Spyro and Cynder that Seathius had chosen not to involve himself in.

"Hey _Terror of the Skies_, fancy meeting you here." The fire dragon remarked, with a cruel, toothy smirk. While Cynder simply looked away in shame, as if she had been expecting it, Spyro had a much more explosive reaction. He was off of his seat and right in the fire dragon's face before you could even blink. His expression was already furious enough to make most dragon's tread carefully, and that was before he even spoke.

"And who exactly might you be?!" Spyro spat out, venom lacing his usually calm and kind voice. The opposing dragons didn't even blink at the way they were spoke to, instead just seemed amused that they could wind up the _legendary purple dragon_ and _The Terror of the Skies_ in such a way which only served to infuriate the already beyond angry dragon.

"My name's Ash and I'm top drake around here. Something you would do well to remember oh _mighty one! _What's wrong you seem a tad frustrated?" Ash mocked, his friends cheering him on in the background. Spyro, while well mannered, polite and generally quite calm, like most people did not enjoy being mocked especially after having one of his closest friends insulted right before him. But before he could retaliate, Ash was speaking again.

"And over here we have **stripy**. Mabye you should take a page from his book and stay quite right now, _legendary dragon._" Ash commented, directing his malicious remarks at Seathius. "Such a big dragon protecting that scum over there in the training room, but he seems pretty quite now. What are you gonna do now, huh stripy?"

Seathius looked up at the fire dragon, fixing him with a stare that could kill someone even if they didn't see it. Then he spoke, his voice surprisingly level and calm.

"Well, uh what is it Ar**? Oh yeah, Ash. Well Ash, I was simply waiting for you to realize that making me angry wouldn't be a good idea, but it appears your sub-par brain can't quite grasp that concept." Seathius replied with a pleasant, mocking smile. This made Ash's smirk drop from his face, replaced by a disgusted sneer.

"You listen here smart-mouth, I'll warn you once because I'm feeling especially _generous _right now. I'm in charge of this Academy and it would be wise for you not to push the limits of my tolerance again." Ash growled, clearly not used to someone coming back at him with any kind of smart remark before. The tension around the room grew and grew as Seathius and Ash stared each other down, the previous confrontation between Ash and Spyro seemingly forgotten.

A large crowd had gathered the two dragons with Ash's cronies standing closer to him than anyone else, ready to heed their leader's orders. Seathius prepared himself for a possible escalation from a verbal battle to a physical one, altering his stance in a way only a warrior would notice. Spyro and Cynder noticed. Ash didn't.

"Or what **Candlestick**? Are you going to go cry to your disappointed parents that someone found out that you're just full of hot air?" Seathius replied with a smirk. The crowd gaped at the daring insult. Ash looked like he had just been slapped around the face, a look of shock coming across his features before being replaced by pure outrage. Letting out a rage-filled roar, Ash charged at Seathius, who looked to most people as if he was going to just sit there and take it. They were wrong.

As Ash's claws came so close to Seathius that it looked impossible to retaliate, Seathius dropped the act. He reacted grabbing the forepaw by the wrist and with his other paw smashed the back of the enraged fire dragon's elbow, generating a sickening crunch. Even those in the crowd could tell that a leg wasn't meant to bend as they just saw it do. Before the crowd could to much as register what happened, Seathius picked the dragon up as if he was light as air before throwing him at the feet of his three underlings.

The entire room was silent, not fully comprehending what they had just seen. They couldn't believe it. Ash, the top dragon, the strongest of all of them had just been defeated by an unknown, nobody, black, striped dragon in a single counter. Even Spyro, who had seen that Seathius was an experienced fighter, was shocked by the speed, skill and _callousness _the black dragon had just displayed. He seemed like a nice enough dragon most of the time but in combat he was brutal. But no-one could deny that it had been effective.

Suddenly the world recovered from the apparent slow in time. And as it did Ash finally came to his senses, his disbelieving stare as he looked at his mangled leg morphing as he let out an agonized roar. His face was clouded with pain, anger and also fear. Fear of the calm black dragon in front of him.

"**YOU THREE!**" Ash screeched, "**CRUSH HIM!**"

The three dragons turned their bodies back to the dragon who had caused their leader's severe injury, their faces contorted in a ugly mix of horror, fear, hate and anger. But none of them wanted to attack on their own after seeing what just transpired. Looking to each other for courage and support, they all charged at once at the calm and collected dragon in front of them, one tensing his muscles and the others charging elemental energy as they prepared to unleash their attacks all at once.

Unfazed by the scene in front of him, Seathius continued to sit almost innocently even as the murky green and brown dragon attacking swung his heaving tail mace at him. He was to be the first to go. Ducking nimbly under the slow yet powerful swing, Seathius grabbed the dragon's tail and swung him with, surprising strength for such a lean dragon, into the corner of the table behind him, using the momentum from his attackers strike to increase the severity of the blow.

No sooner had he let go of the dazed earth dragon, did he dive sideways out of the way of a crackling bolt of electricity and turned to face the remaining two opponents, his look of bored indifference only serving to unnerve them further. _Good, if they're nervous they will be easier to take down_ Seathius thought to himself. As Seathius moved slowly over to one of the tables the ice dragon decided to make a move, releasing all of his stored elemental energy in a storm of sharp, frozen spikes. That gave Seathius his chance.

With astounding agility, the black and silver dragon leapt onto the table next to him before launching himself over the hail of ice spikes coming towards him, much to the shock and dismay of the ice dragon below him. As gravity finally appeared to take effect upon him, Seathius grabbed one of the ice dragon's horns as he flew past before swinging him over his head and smashing him onto the floor in front of him. Seathius turned an amused stare to the startled lightning dragon behind him. Then he chuckled slightly before speaking.

"And then there was one..." Seathius mused, almost absentmindedly "Would you care to end up like your 'friends' there or are you smart enough to take a hint?"

The electric dragon seemed desperate to take the chance at getting away from the vastly superior dragon in front of him and practically leapt out of the circle of dragons, all his previous 'loyalty' to his 'leader' now disappeared completely. Strolling casually over to the whimpering fire dragon on the floor, Seathius replaced his calm smile with his true feelings for a few moments, letting a cold disappointed sneer settle onto his face.

"_This _is the top drake around here? Pathetic." Seathius practically spat out at the downed fire dragon. Then he let calm almost featureless act roll back over his face and turned to leave, and no-one not the crowd, not Spyro or Cynder, tried to stop him. By the time Sparx arrived with a member of staff, Seathius was long gone.

* * *

As he walked back to the solitude of his room, Seathius silently contemplated what he had just done, considering the many pros, cons and possible repercussions of the fight in the mess hall. One would be that the Guardians would kick him out of Warfang and exile him; another would be that they would be thankful that he injured the fire dragon and his lackeys. Both were, of course, very unlikely, but it was always wise to consider all that might happen and prepare for it.

Seathius thoughts turned to the fight. He could feel that the fire dragon, Ash, had raw power, but as Seathius had not given him enough time to use his birth abilities that power did not even nearly make up for his slow reflexes and lack of skill. All in all, not a very large threat just another to add to the list of those who might attempt to harm him. It was a very long list.

Seathius hadn't got very far before he felt a vibrations through the floor, coming towards him with every second. Through said vibrations Seathius measured the weight, heart rate and speed of the creator of the vibrations. As it turned out it was Suraxis, who seemed to be following him, though for what reason he did not know. Turning to face the direction of the vibrations, Seathius saw the bronze dragoness walk up behind him, with a look that told him she wanted to ask him something.

When she was within speaking distance, Suraxis started talking, not bothering with greetings or anything of the like. Chances are the black and silver dragon would have only responded with a grunt or something similar anyway.

"Was what you did to Ash really necessary?" Suraxis inquired with a raised eyebrow. Seathius concluded that she didn't seem angry or happy, she just seemed curious. It took a few moments before she got a response and when she did her questioned still hadn't been answered.

"Do you disagree with what I did then?"

"Well not entirely, but I do think you went a bit overboard with proving how superior you were." Suraxis admitted, with a shrug.

"Well you most likely knew from the start how the fight would turn out, but the others who were there did not. I had to make a point. I hope that it shall prevent further incidents." Seathius explained.

"Well what about the Guardians? Surely you don't think they will just allow this." Suraxis countered. She seemed to want to find if Seathius had truly considered most outcomes. _But why would that matter to her_ Seathius thought, before answering the bronze dragoness.

"I've considered that. I'm hoping that Spyro or Cynder will be able to say something to them that may sway their decisions of what to do about me in my favour, or if not them then the crowd that was present. They didn't seem to keen on Ash." Seathius pointed out. After a few moments of considering this, Suraxis conceded with a shrug.

"Fine. Good luck with whatever the Guardians decide to do then. I'll most likely see you tomorrow if your confidence in your plans is half as valid as you seem to think it is. Goodbye" Suraxis said, waving a paw dismissively at the passive black dragon behind her as she turned to walk away. Without waiting for a response to her farewell, Suraxis turned to the corridor to her left, most likely to head back to her own quarters in the dragoness' area.

Once again on his own, Seathius assessed Suraxis' apparent change of attitude, from challenging and fairly friendly to critical and at some points in their brief conversation, downright cold. While this change was slightly surprising, Seathius did not really care either way. As long as she didn't trouble him he was fine with most attitudes. Not because he was particularly tolerant but because he simply disliked causing unnecessary confrontations. The fight with Ash, however, had been very much necessary.

Seathius reached his quarters with no more encounters with any other dragons, who were most likely still in the mess hall possibly arguing over who was now top drake in the Academy, Ash, himself or possibly even the purple dragon, Spyro. Seathius could still easily remember the lesson that had been burnt into his mind long ago about superiority ...

* * *

_A much younger and very much human version of Seathius was backing closer and closer to the wall of a cold, dark, gray walled room, practically trembling in fear as another figure slowly advanced towards him. Seathius tormenter held a large serrated knife in his right hand, the blade so covered in blood the steel beneath could not even be seen. The wicked weapon was responsible for the wounds and half-healed cuts that marred Seathius' body._

_The man's face was hidden under a mask of a skinned dragon, the horns still mounted atop the vile costume. The mask's mutilated visage hadn't even stopped bleeding yet, creating an effect that it was crying. Crying blood. The only openings were for the eyes, were the old ones had been plucked out and done away with. Finally, Seathius ran out of space._

_Stuck against a wall, Seathius whipped his head from side to side, flinging tears that had been blurring his sight to the blood stained floor, hoping desperately that he could find something to rescue him from the nightmarish room. His terror only multiplied when the masked being began running the tip of the blade against the stone wall next to him, the scraping sound speaking promises of torture and pain for the small boy. Just as the knife came within slicing difference, Seathius did the only thing his young mind could think of. He ran._

_Not allowing him even to make it a step forward, the shrouded man sent the hilt of the blood soaked blade into the bridge of the young boy's nose, causing blood to come cascading out, making him look not unlike the skinned mask of the dragon the torturer wore. Crashing gracelessly into the red layered floor, Seathius began to again openly wail as the several crushed bones in his nose caused unendurable agony. For a few minutes, the concealed entity only glared at the whimpering, shaking form of Seathius. Then he reached out his hand, gesturing for the young boy to take it._

_Not having the energy or the will to oppose his tormenter, Seathius reached out his hand for that of the masked figure. The man gripped Seathius' hand firmly slowly beginning to pull him to his feet. On the inside the younger Seathius smiled. Was this it? Was it finally all over? Just as he put his first foot beneath himself the young boy got his answer._

_Suddenly, the man yanked on Seathius arm, dislocating the maimed boy's shoulder joint signified by a stomach churning pop, and plunged the knife into his wrist before kicking him in the stomach, reopening many previous stab wounds. As Seathius fell to the floor once more, the torturer decided to finally leave. Looking over his shoulder at the now disfigured child behind him, he finally decided to speak._

"_I torture you. Yet still you are too pathetic to even try to stop me." The man placed a hand on the door handle in front of him and spoke another single word to the scarred nigh-unconscious minor._

"_Coward."_

_Looking one more time at the child behind him, the man finally saw what he wanted to see. It was ugly, vile and evil, looking so out of place on such a young, but far from innocent face. The torturer could see it in the boy's eyes. Hate. Pure, burning, unquenchable hate. The man turned the handle on the door and walked out with a low chuckle, leaving the semi-conscious, bleeding , weeping form of Seathius behind him. But Seathius didn't care. Only one thing was in is head right now. One thought. One word._

_Coward..._

* * *

Waking with a start, Seathius found himself in his quarters at the Dragonic Academy, though he must have only arrived here subconsciously as he did not remember anything beyond the conversation with Suraxis. But the good news was he wasn't in a blood stained torture room. He wasn't near any bloodthirsty psychopaths with serrated knives and masks that bleed. He was as safe here as he would be nearly anywhere else.

The bad news was he hadn't been awoken by any will of his own. He was just having his nice, peaceful nightmare about his tortured past when he felt a weight stop outside his door. Before said being could even raise a paw, Seathius had opened the one way eye-hole on his side of the door, just perfect for people like him who like going that extra mile to be paranoid. And sarcastic.

He saw Cynder, calm, smiling and raising a paw to knock on the wooden panel of the stone door, though she seemed to be fidgeting slightly, as if nervous to knock on his door. Seathius covered his face yet again with a cheerful outgoing façade, opening the door before Cynder got the chance, giving the black dragoness a smile. Though speaking Cynder beat him to.

"Spyro warned you might do something like that. Some way of weighing areas through the ground I think he said." Cynder commented, explaining why the door being opened just as she was about to knock hadn't surprised her as much as it would others.

"Ah well it was worth a try. Are you okay after that thing in the hall? I'm sorry if I embarrassed or annoyed you... again." Seathius apologised. Cynder seemed mystified as to why he did however.

"Actually that's one of the two reasons I came to talk to you. I wanted to thank you for helping me, again, when people were picking on me because of my past. It really does mean a lot and I feel as if I haven't done enough to thank you for it." Cynder admitted, looking bashfully down at her forepaws.

"Like I said before, I just wanted to help you. It just isn't fair that people are hurling abuse at you just because of something Malefor did." Seathius replied, growing bitterer the more he spoke of 'those people' abusing Cynder. _Believe me I know what it's like_ he added inwardly.

"Well I still wanted to thank you for what you did, even though that fire dragon, Ash, didn't seem too happy." Cynder sniggered, apparently amused in a slightly dark way about Ash's injury "But that kind of brings on the bad news..."

"Because nothing in this world can ever be just good for anyone at all." Seathius commented, rolling his eyes slightly.

"Yeah, life just isn't nice to anyone really." Cynder began with a wistful look in her emerald eyes, before shaking it away "Anyway the bad news is, well... The Guardians want to see you about what happened. I don't know who they think is to blame or who is right or wrong. They just told me to tell you that they wanted to see you. They're waiting in the training arena."

Stretching his forelegs and wings before he responded, Seathius didn't seem fazed.

"Well I had better not keep them waiting, had I?" Seathius replied, beginning to walk down to corridor towards the area of the first outright attack on Cynder, forcing the black dragoness herself to jog to catch up with him. When she did she regarded him with a questioning expression.

"So you're not even worried about whether they decide to throw you out of the Academy or not? You act as if you're going to have a casual chat with them." Cynder remarked, now only having to walk to keep pace with the other black dragon.

"Well, I certainly wouldn't like to be kicked out, but if they _have _decided to do so absolutely nothing I say will sway them. So making myself look nervous and guilty with worry would just make the situation worse." Seathius explained his logic to Cynder. She shrugged before conceding to his logic.

"Yeah I guess you're right. But just in case they have decided to do ban you from the Academy..." _And also because I can't think of a better way to say thank you... yet_ she added to herself. She leaned closer to the dragon next to her and drew him into an embrace with her paws. Tensing at the contact, though still allowing it, Seathius was confused _Why is she hugging me? Is it because I helped her? And if so, w__hy is she so grateful for my help? Although the favour of one of the purple dragon's closest companions could prove useful..._

When she leaned away from Seathius, Cynder looked even more bashful than before, though her onyx scales hid her blush quite well. But when she saw the surprised look on his face, she began to lean towards guilty. Looking down at her paws, she started to apologise.

"I'm sorry Seathius, I should have-" The smile leapt back onto Seathius face as if it had never left, and he stopped her giving her a smile to tell her that she didn't have to be sorry.

"It's fine, I really appreciate the gesture." Seathius assured with a casual wave of his paw "I just wasn't expecting it was all."

"That's a relief. I thought I might have annoyed you." Cynder told the dragon next to her. A few moments passed in a somewhat awkward silence before Cynder spoke again.

"We should go. The Guardians might be annoyed if we take too long."

"At their age, we probably have a different perception of the words 'long time'." Seathius joked. Both dragon continued to walk down the hallway, one laughing quietly at the joke of her friend, and the other grinning cheekily at his own.

* * *

**_You know when I said 'two weeks' at the end of the last chapter...Yeaaah I'm kind of a d***. I don't even have an excuse other than 'This chapter is 2400 words longer than all the others so it took longer!' but..._**

**_1. That excuse sucks, and _**

**_2. It shouldn't have taken me triple to time to write less than double the words..._**

**_I'm just kind of lazy. Although right now I'm staying up until 3:45 in the morning to get this chapter to you... Because I feel guilty... _****_Anyway I hope you all enjoy this chapter of Scars of Shadow :D Please review with constructive criticism._****_Until next chapter (Which I'm not even going to make an estimate of time for) I'l CYAAAAAA..AAA..AAA...AAa..Aa.a_**

**_(6000 words of actual story. That's a milestone for me :D) _**


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